St 


RUSSIAN    LI  FE^ 

--S.   '  AND  SOCIeI 


1^0 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE 

AND  SOCIETY 


AS  SEEN  IN  1866-'67  BY  APPLETON  AND  LONGFELLOW, 

TWO  YOUNG   TRAVELLERS  FROM  THE    UNITED 

STATES  OP    AMERICA,  WHO    HAD    BEEN 

OFFICERS    IN    THE    UNION    ARMY, 

AND  A  JOURNEY  TO  RUSSIA 

WITH  GENERAL  BANKS 

IN   1869. 


WITH    SKETCHES    OF    ALEXANDER    II.     AND    ABRAHAM 

LINCOLN,  AND  EMANCIPATION    IN    THE    EMPIRE 

OF  RUSSIA  AND  THE   REPUBLIC   OF   THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


Prepared  by 
BREVET    CAPTAIN    NATHAN    APPLETON 

Author  of 
"HARVARD  COLLEGE  DURING  THE   WAR." 

BOSTON.  1904. 


Copyright.   1904 

By  Nathan  Appleton. 

(All  Rights  Reserved.) 


Press  of  Murray  and  Emery  Company 
Boston,  Massachusetts 


TO 

PRINCESS  J G 

IN    PLEASANT    RECOLLECTION    OF    SKATING    AT   MOSCOW. 

JANUARY,   1867,  THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR 
Boston,  1904. 


531061 

tIBRARTt 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  First  page 

Arrival  in  Paris  and  Adieu.     The  Yacht  AHce 9 

Chapter  Second 
Lincoln  and  Emancipation 43 

Chapter  Third 
Brussels,  Berlin,  Konigsburg,  Wilna 68 

Chapter  Fourth 

St.    Petersburg.     Tsar  Alexander   II.,    Gortschakoflf, 

Cronstadt    81 

Chapter  Fifth 

Moscow.     The  City  and  Environs.     Trotting  in  Rus- 
sia         100 

Chapter  Sixth 
St.  Petersburg.      The  Neva.      Novgorod.      Poland  .  .    133 

Chapter  Seventh 
Charles  Appleton  Longfellow 156 

Chapter  Eighth 

France.     Last  Days  of  the  Empire.     To  Russia  with 

Gen.    Banks 160 

Chapter  Ninth 
Alexander  II.  and  Emancipation 184 

Chapter  Tenth 

Europe  and  America  in  1870.     Demetrius  Goubareff. 

Russia  and  the  United  States 207 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


Longfellow    and    Appleton Frontispiece. 

OP.    PAGE 

Yacht  Alice,  Cowes,  I.  W.,  1866 18 

Captain,  Passengers  and  Crew  of  the  Alice 19 

Rue  de  la  PaLx,  a  Paris 24 

Gentlemen  Riders  of  the  Newport  Race 31 

Troika 38 

Abraham  Lincoln 43 

Wilna 68 

Statue  of  Kant,  Konigsburg,  1866 73 

Single   Sleigh 74 

Nevski  Prospect,  St.  Petersburg 81 

Hon.  Cassius  M.  Clay,  Minister  to  Russia 82 

Bolshaja  Morskaja  (Great  Sea  Street) 86 

Christmas  Shopping  in  St.  Petersburg 87 

The  Kremlin,  Moscow 100 

Drinking  Tea 105 

A  Coursier 110 

The  Staigg  Portrait 117 

Rosalie    125 

The  Blessing  of  the  Neva 133 

The  Midnight  Drive 140 

Skating  in  the  YousoupofE  Garden 141 

Circassian  Uniform 142 

Sledge  Drawn  by  Reindeer 151 

Drosky    153 

Charles  Appleton  Longfellow 156 

Hon.     Nathaniel    P.     Banks,     Representative    from 

Massachusetts    160 

Ferdinand  de  Lesseps 179 

Alexander  IL,  1866 184 

Odessa,   1899 207 

Port  Said.     Opening  of  the  Suez  Canal 225 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 


CHAPTER  FIRST. 

ARRIVAL  IN    PARIS  AND    ADIEU.       THE    YACHT  ALICE, 

"Our  trusty  friend,  our  true  ally 

Through  varied  change  and  chance: 
So  fill  your  flashing  goblets  high, 
I  give  you,  vive  la  France." 

—  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

I  sailed  from  New  York  early  in  October,  1866, 
in  the  French  line  steamer  Ville  de  Paris,  Captain 
Surmont.  Time  about  eleven  days  to  Brest. 
Cloudy  weather,  and  the  last  four  or  five  days  no 
observation,  so  one  morning  we  found  ourselves 
near  the  Scilly  Islands,  and  from  there  steamed 
over  to  Brest,  arriving  in  the  afternoon.  I  had  a 
room  with  Frank  Burgess  of  Boston,  whom  I  then 
knew  but  slightly,  and,  as  we  found  that  we  liked 
each  other  and  had  the  same  objects  in  view  at 
Paris,  we  went  there  and  took  rooms  together  at 
the  Hotel  de  la  Paix,  since  torn  down  for  the  Place 
du  Nouvel  Opera,  corner  Rue  de  la  Paix  and  the 
Boulevard.  The  month  I  passed  there  until  going 
to  Russia  was  one  of  my  liveliest  and  pleasantest 
in  Paris. 

The  voyage  across  the  ocean  was  the  same  old 
story  so  often  and  often  described.  There  was 
the  same  queer  medley  of  passengers  as  always, 
and  they  told  the  same  stories  they  always  do, 
and  passed  their  time  in  the  same  old  way.     There 

9 


10  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

was  the  knowing  Yankee  buyer,  going  on  his  hur- 
ried autumn  business  tour  through  Europe,  who 
gave  every  one  to  understand  that  this  was  his 
forty-seventh  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  that 
he  knew  pretty  well  how  to  take  care  of  himself. 
He  had  been  in  nearly  every  steamship  of  every 
line  between  Europe  and  America,  and  gave  advice 
freely  as  to  their  relative  merits.  He  always  could 
tell  the  exact  position  of  the  ship,  in  fog  or  shine, 
better  than  the  Captain  himself,  and  was  most 
active  in  getting  up,  every  day  after  lunch,  pools 
on  the  ship's  run,  after  which  he  would  rush  about 
making  his  "book,"  buying  and  selling  tickets  to 
increase  his  chances  of  winning. 

Then  there  was  the  jolly  paterfamilias ,  who  had 
been  passing  the  last  four  months  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel,  looking  after  his  investments,  and 
was  now  returning,  to  join  his  family  who  were 
living  in  Paris,  and  who  would  gladly  welcome 
him  and  his  full  purse.  He  was  always  around, 
and  very  attentive  to  and  a  great  favorite  with 
the  ladies,  young  and  old. 

There  was  the  same  group  of  Cubans  smoking 
cigarettes  and  talking  Spanish  together  with  wild 
gesticulations,  but  keeping  aloof  from  the  other 
passengers.  And,  oh!  the  pretty  French  actress, 
returning  for  the  winter  season  in  Paris  at  the 
Folies  Dramatiques  or  the  Palais  Royal,  fresh 
from  the  applause  and  bouquets  in  New  York, 
Chicago  and  San  "Francisco.  She  was  dark,  she 
was  petite,  she  had  arched  e^'^ebrows  and  the 
slightest  touch  of  paint  under  her  sparkling  orbs. 
She  never  appeared  on  deck  until  near  dinner 
time  and  then  in  a  lovely  toilette,  as  if  she  were 
just  going  to  take  a  drive  at  the  Bois.  And  how 
at  the  concert,  organized  a  few  nights  before  sight- 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  11 

ing  the  coast  of  la  belle  France,  she  charmed  all  as 
she  sang  some  of  her  opera  bouffe  songs. 

Of  course  the  precocious  youth  was  aboard,  going 
out  for  the  fourth  time  to  see  the  Coliseum,  and 
what  wonderful  information  he  imparted  to  such 
listeners  as  he  could  get.  When  the  wind  was  aft 
he  assured  you  that  the  boat  was  making  at  least 
fifteen  knots,  and  that  we  should  arrive  at  Brest  in 
time  to  take  the  eight  o'clock  train  for  Paris;  then, 
again,  when  the  wind  was  dead  ahead  he  consoled 
you  with  the  thought  that  it  made  the  fires  draw 
well,  which  was  a  good  thing;  but  if  it  struck  the 
boat  on  either  beam  he  could  conclusively  prove 
that  the  sails  being  well  filled  the  steamer  was 
steady  in  her  movements,  which,  after  all,  was 
better  than  rolling  about  too  fast.  If  it  chanced 
to  rain  he  cheered  the  disconsolate  passengers  by 
stating  that  it  would  help  beat  down  the  waves 
and  make  the  sea  less  rough!  Every  day,  too 
he  seemed  to  think, — nor  did  he  keep  this  saga- 
cious thought  to  himself, — lightened  the  ship  of 
so  much  coal,  and  then  as  for  the  advantages  of 
fogs  or  icebergs,  no  possible  question  on  the  sub- 
ject could  puzzle  him. 

Pretty  girls  flitted  here  and  there,  or  were  spread 
out  in  their  chairs  and  looked  uncomfortable. 
"Swells"  gloomily  lounged  around:  enthusiastic 
young  travellers  were  always  on  hand  at  every- 
thing which  turned  up  in  the  ship's  management, 
especially  the  throwing  the  log  and  taking  the 
observations,  as  if  determined  at  the  outset  to 
lose  none  of  their  money's  worth  of  sight-seeing. 

A  clever  lady  from  Wa^^hington  was  always 
posed  in  a  corner  of  the  saloon,  a  half  read  novel 
in  hand,  her  flacon  and  fan  on  either  side,  and 
she  herself  happy  at  any  time,  morning,  afternoon 


12  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

or  evening,  to  enter  with  you  into  a  long  conver- 
sation on  any  subject. 

A  French  priest  and  a  Western  parson  kept 
theology  well  argued  as  an  appetizer  for  your 
meals,  while  in  the  smoking  room  the  poker  party 
was  going  on  all  through  the  voyage  with  scarcely 
an  intermission. 

The  bliiif  old  Captain  was  ever  about  with  a 
pleasant  smile  and  word  for  all,  inspiring  those 
of  whom  he  was  the  ten-day  autocrat,  with  a 
feeling  of  security  by  his  own  solid  and  comfort- 
able appearance. 

A  system  for  passing  the  time  on  shipboard  I 
found  worked  very  well,  and  I  am  only  too  glad 
to  recommend  it  to  any  who  choose  to  try  it  for 
themselves. 

Take  your  coffee  about  nine  in  bed  in  your 
state  room  propped  up  with  numerous  pillows, 
then  go  through  the  operation  of  being  shaved 
if  the  offices  of  a  Figaro  are  required,  who  may 
be  one  of  the  ship's  stewards.  After  this  a  couple 
of  hours  or  so  may  be  passed  in  reading,  and  for 
this  a  selection  of  a  dozen  books  or  so  you  may 
have  had  placed  on  the  shelf  over  your  couch,  so 
that  you  can  choose  any  one  which  happens  to 
suit  your  mood,  or,  scratch  off  your  thoughts  on 
a  block  of  paper,  always  to  be  carried  on  your 
travels  thus  taking  down  rambling  notes  where- 
ever  you  go.  RisiAg  about  half  an  hour  before 
lunch  time,  you  get  up  an  appetite  by  sniffing  the 
sea  air  and  chatting  with  those  who  are  about. 
Next  comes  lunch  itself,  an  important  item  in 
the  day,  which  with  its  subsequent  cigar  or  pipe 
can  be  made  to  dispose  of  nearly  two  hours.  Then 
approaches  the  toughest  part  of  the  twenty-four 
portions    into    which    day    and    night    are    sub- 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  13 

divided,  the  time  between  lunch  and  dinner.  A 
hand  at  poker  or  vingt-et-un  helps  it  along,  a  con- 
versation with  some  fair  one  in  that  favorite  spot 
behind  the  wheelhouse  is  a  powerful  auxiliary, 
and,  if  nothing  else  turns  up,  a  lazy  novel  or  a 
siesta  would  annihilate  the  moments  until  the 
first  bell  ringing  gives  the  welcome  intimation 
that  the  time  for  toilette  is  at  hand. 

Dinner,  with  or  without  appetite  it  makes  no 
difference  for  go  through  the  form  of  remaining 
at  table  you  must,  would  next  take  its  regular 
place  in  the  programme,  and  that  and  a  cigar  well 
over  and  digested,  you  are  ready  to  sit  down  to 
your  evening  party  of  whist.  Than  this  there  is 
no  better  recreation  for  passing  the  hours  after 
dark,  and  the  selection  of  a  good  set  of  players 
at  an  early  stage  of  the  voyage  is  an  important 
and  not  to  be  neglected  duty.  Is  it  not  probable 
that  the  great  Talleyrand,  when  he  advised  the 
young  man  to  learn  thoroughly  this  king  of  games 
at  cards  out  of  regard  for  his  declining  years, 
remembered  with  pleasure  the  hours  he  had  thus 
passed  in  his  journeys  by  water?  So  the  evening 
goes  along,  the  ladies  retire,  the  lights  are  put  out 
in  the  saloon,  and  the  male  portion  of  the  commu- 
nity is  free  to  take  possession  of  the  smoking 
room,  there  to  sit  well  into  the  night  and  to  recount 
story  after  story. 

It  was  thus  we  existed  the  ten  days  of  our  pas- 
sage, making  pleasant  acquaintances  in  that  free 
off-hand  way  which  gives  no  binding  claim  for 
future  continuance.  You  meet,  you  take  each 
other  for  what  you  are  worth,  you  separate,  it  may 
*be  to  see  each  other  again  some  time,  it  may  be 
never,  and  intimacies  under  such  circumstances 
are  quickly  formed,   and   as  quickly  forgotten. 


14  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Before  we  were  well  aware  of  it,  so  speedily  the 
last  days  on  the  ocean  flew  by,  all  the  passengers 
being  well  and  overflowing  with  good  spirits,  the 
bright  coast  of  France  loomed  up  before  our  eyes 
in  the  distance,  the  green  fields  could  almost  be 
scented  afar  off,  and  there  was  bustle  and  activity 
in  the  Ville  de  Paris.  Trunks  were  being  brought 
up,  and  people  who  did  not  in  the  least  care  for 
each  other  were  saying  good  by  a  dozen  times. 

Down  goes  the  anchor  with  a  plunge,  the  quai 
at  Brest  is  swarming  with  officials  and  idlers,  all 
chattering  like  mad,  the  tug  boat  sweeps  up  before 
the  douane,  we  step  ashore,  and  find  ourselves  in 
France. 

Gay,  Gay  Paris. 

How  the  heart  of  the  American  beats  with  joy 
whenever  he  enters  Paris,  that  queen  city  of  cities, 
which  he  regards  as  almost  a  second  home,  feeling 
a  genuine  pride  of  possession  in  its  beautiful  mon- 
uments, its  long  avenues,  its  brilliant  fetes,  and 
all  its  institutions  of  instruction  and  amusement. 
And  cannot  a  probable  reason  why  the  American 
takes  to  it  so  much  more  than  to  any  other  foreign 
city, — why  the  asphalt  of  the  boulevard  is  to  him 
almost  as  dear  as  the  flag-stones  of  Broadway, — 
be  found  in  the  fact  of  the  real  democracy  of  the 
social  life  in  Paris  and  France?  The  government 
may  be  a  despotism  or  a  revolution :  the  annoyances 
of  bureaucracy  and  red  tape  are  nowhere  greater 
than  there ;  the  petty  details  of  business  life  amuse 
and  vex  you,  but  in  spite  of  all,  the  social  life  of 
the  people,  whether  natives  or  strangers,  is  as 
free  as  free  can  be,  provided  none  of  the  laws  of 
the  land  are  broken.  You  come,  you  go,  you  do 
this  or  you  do  that,  you  can  dine  at  one  o'clock 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  15 

on  beef  and  cabbage,  or  at  seven  on  woodcock 
with  truffles;  you  can  live  in  a  palace  or  a  cin- 
quieme;  you  can  go  to  the  opera  in  evening  dress 
or  blouse;  you  can  study  medicine  or  you  can 
study  pleasure;  you  can  drive  in  a  four-in-hand 
or  in  a  fiacre;  you  can  do  everything  or  nothing: 
whoever  you  are,  or  whatever  your  fortune  may 
be,  no  one  will  interfere;  your  eccentricities  will 
cause  little  remark,  you  will  be  unmolested,  for 
all  are  too  much  occupied  with  themselves  to  pay 
much  attention  to  others,  and  you  may  be  certain 
that,  do  your  best  to  astonish  those  about  you, 
it  will  not  be  easy  to  offer  them  a  new  sensation. 

I  had  been  there  before, — this  was  my  third 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic, — and  had  seen  the 
guide-book  sights  of  the  city,  and  congratulated 
myself  heartily  upon  the  accomplishment,  for  it 
was  off  my  mind  and  I  would  be  spared  from 
doing  it  now. 

One  is  not  likely  to  forget  the  sensations  ex- 
perienced during  the  long  drive  from  the  railroad 
station  to  the  hotel  when  first  arriving  at  Paris, 
especially  if  it  be  after  dark,  through  the  brilliantly 
lighted  streets,  across  the  great  squares,  full  as 
they  always  are  of  the  gayest  hearted  people  in 
the  world,  with  apparently  nothing  to  do  except 
treat  life  as  a  continual  holiday,  and  I  went 
through  it  again  with  the  freshness  of  a  first  visit, 
as  we  were  taken  the  distance  which  separates 
the  Gare  de  VOnest  from  the  Grand  Hotel,  at 
which  place  we  had  decided  to  camp  for  the  night, 
and  leave  hunting  up  some  snug  apartment  until 
the  morrow.  The  clock  was  just  striking  nine  as 
the  little  omnibus  came  with  a  clatter  and  cracking 
of  whip  into  the  spacious  court-yard,  and  after 
supper   and   a   short   stroll   on   the   boulevard,    I 


16  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

"turned   in,"   my   imagination   picturing  in   rose- 
colored  dreams  all  we  would  do  and  see. 

A  Letter  To  My  Mother. 

Paris,  October  22,  1866. 
Dear  Mamma: 

My  last  note  must,  I  think,  have  been  rather 
unsatisfactory,  and  I  hasten  to  do  amends  with 
a  longer  one.  The  fact  was  that  I  arrived  in 
Paris  at  the  Hotel  just  about  half  an  hour  before 
the  French  mail  for  the  Cunard  steamer  closed, 
and  I  had  either  to  drop  just  one  line  to  announce 
my  safe  arrival  or  nothing  at  all.  The  voyage 
over  was,  like  all,  very  tedious,  and  we  had  pretty 
bad  weather  on  the  whole.  Not  knowing  where 
we  were  at  length  we  ran  into  a  light  on  the  Eng- 
lish coast,  and  from  there  made  our  way  down 
south  to  Brest,  where  I  landed  and  ran  right  up 
to  Paris.  I  like  the  steamer  better  than  the 
Cunard,  she  is  very  fast,  and  is  much  more  adapted 
to  the  comfort  of  a  gentleman,  especially  as  there 
is  a  cozy  little  smoking  room  where  you  could 
play  whist  in  the  evenings;  also  a  barber's  shop, 
and  the  state  rooms  are  better  arranged.  I  came 
up  to  Paris  with  Frank  Burgess  and  Maurice  Le 
Ray  (one  of  the  Newport  jockeys  of  the  past 
summer,  attache  to  the  French  legation  at  Wash- 
ington, who  was  a  passenger  on  the  steamer),  and 
Burgess  and  I  have  taken  some  very  nice  rooms. 

Yesterday  morning  Charlie  Longfellow  (Charles 
Appleton  Longfellow,  late  lieutenant  in  the  1st 
Mass.  Cavalr}%  wounded  at  Mt.  Hope  Church, 
Va.,  Nov.  27,  1863.  He  was  the  son  of  the  poet 
Henr}''  W.  Longfellow,  who  married  my  half- 
sister    Frances,    so   was   my   half- nephew,    a   year 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  17 

and  some  months  younger  than  I),  and  Harry 
Stanfield  tumbled  in  upon  us,  as  they  had  that 
very  night  come  over  from  London,  and  they 
gave  us  jolly  accounts  of  the  doings  of  the  Alice 
during  the  past  summer.  Brother  Tom  (Thomas 
Gold  Appleton)  and  Arthur  Clark  (Captain  of  the 
Alice)  sail  for  home  the  last  of  the  month.  Charlie 
likes  the  idea  of  going  off  to  Saint  Petersburg  by 
and  by,  so  as  to  get  there  in  the  height  of  the  winter, 
which  time  they  say  is  really  the  best  to  see  the 
place,  but  he  wants  to  stay  here  a  while  to  brush 
up  his  French.  So  I  think  I  shall  be  quartered  in 
Paris  for  some  little  time,  perhaps  a  month,  and 
pitch  right  into  the  study  of  French,  and  then 
start  off  with  him  for  the  cold  regions  of  Europe. 
Tuesday:  After  writing  thus  much  yesterday 
I  went  round  to  the  bank  (Bowles,  Drevet  &  Cie 
at  that  time  24  Rue  de  la  Paix)  where  I  found 
your  letter  awaiting  me,  and  I  must  say  that  con- 
sidering you  had  only  two  or  three  days  you  have 
managed  to  pick  up  a  vast  amount  of  interesting 
items.  The  first  Bostonian  I  met  was  Mollis 
Hunnewell.  I  have  seen  my  classmates  (at  Har- 
vard) (Charles  C.)  Jackson  and  (Frank  L.)  Hig- 
ginson,  and  yesterday  I  called  on  the  Harry  Sar- 
gents.  The  weather  is  charming  now,  just  right 
for  driving  about,  and  I  hope  it  will  continue  so 
for  a  month,  when  we  ought  to  expect  the  drizzly 
rains  which  will  drive  me  off.  There  are  so  many 
from  the  "Hub"  here  now  that  Brother  Tom's 
last  bon  mot  is  said  to  be  "All  Parisians  are  Bos- 
tonians." 

Au  revoir. 

Nate. 


18  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

The   Yacht   Alice. 

The  sloop  yacht  Alice  was  owned  by  Thomas 
Gold  Appleton.  She  was  about  fifty  feet  in  length 
and  was  built  by  Townsend  at  Portsmouth,  R.  I., 
in  1866.  When  last  heard  from  she  was  a  trader 
off  the  coast  of  Maine. 

The  Alice  left  Nahant  July  12,  1866,  arrived 
at  the  Needles  July  30th,  and  Cowes  Roads  July 
31st.  It  was  a  remarkable  trip  and  faster  than 
that  of  any  kind  of  vessel  made  across  the  Atlantic 
ocean  with  the  then  time  allowance. 

Captain  Arthur  H.Clark  was  in  command,  and  she 
carried  Charles  A.  Longfellow,  the  owner's  nephew, 
Harry  Stanfield,  a  crew  of  three  men  and  a  Chinese 
steward.  The  owner,  then  fifty -four  years  old, 
crossed  in  the  Cunarder  China,  and,  joining  the  Alice 
at  Cowes,  cruised  off  the  French  coast  and  the  Chan- 
nel islands,  see  A  Cruise  of  the  Alice  in  A  Sheaf  of 
Papers,  by  T.  G.  Appleton,  1875. 

One  of  the  first  business  despatches  sent  by  the 
cable  across  the  Atlantic,  the  Great  Eastern  having 
successfully  landed  the  cable  at  Newfoundland 
on  July  27,  1866,  was  the  safe  arrival  of  the  Alice, 
by  C.  A.  Longfellow. 

The  owner  thus  addresses  the  beautiful  yacht 
in  his  collection  of  poems  called  Faded  Leaves: 

"Away!  the  cloven  waves  unite 
Behind  in  murmuring  braids  of  snow, 
And  seething  whispers  of  delight, 
As  through  the  glassy  fields  we  go ; 
And  curtseying  with  a  grace  her  own 
Her  bows  of  beauty  in  reply, 
The  white- winged  creature  moves  alone; 
Swan-like  between  the  wave  and  sky. 


YACHT     ALICE. 


CAPTAIN,    PASSENGERS    AND    CREW    OF    THE    ALICE. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  19 

Farewell,  dear  friend,  my  floating  home; 

A  menacing  linger  in  the  sky 

Bids  us  through  summer  seas  to  roam 

No  more,  and  from  harsh  winters  fiy. 

Sleep!  dreaming  of  the  violet  deep, 

And  think  of  us  and  happy  hours. 

While  we  through  icy  nights  shall  keep 

Thoughts  of  the  sails  that  once  were  ours. " 

The  yacht  wintered  at  Cowes  and  was  brought 
back  the  next  spring. 

From  Brother  Tom  in  London. 

Many  thanks,  my  dear  Naty,  for  your  letter 
and  the  one  enclosed.  I  would  have  been  sorry 
to  have  missed  it,  as  it  is  from  an  old  friend,  and 
in  peculiar  circumstances,  and  it  would  not  have 
been  well  to  have  the  letter  go  astray.  And 
thanks  for  yours,  too,  though  only  announcing 
your  arrival,  and  a  sketch  of  your  plans.  You 
will  do  well  to  take  Charlie  and  Harry  if  they  will 
go,  and  in  the  winter  Saint  Petersburg  must  be 
fine,  though  after  all  not  much  beyond  in  cold 
splendor  dear  old  Boston.  I  am  reading  a  new 
book  on  Russia,  by  Henry  Morley,  and  find  much 
in  it  interesting.  Today  is  so  dark  no  one  is  up, 
and  I  am  writing  alone.  .  .  .  Who  should  be  here 
but  Townsend,  my  boat  builder.  He  could  not 
be  quiet,  hearing  so  much  of  the  Alice.  Tell 
Charlie  he  has  gone  to  Cowes.  Don't  you  wish 
you  loved  yachting,  and  could  have  had  the  nice 
time  we  have  had?  It  beats  fancy  wagons  and 
top  boots,  I  assure  you. 

Remember  me  to  Charlie  and  Harry  and  bid 
them  take  care  and  be  prudent  and  get  into  no 
scrapes. 


20  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

Farewell  and  prosper,  and  do  not  leave  your 
whiskers  in  the  snows  of  Russia. 

Yr.  aff.  brother,     T.  G.  Appleton. 
Charing  X  Hotel,  25th  October. 

To  my  mother  I  wrote  again  from  Paris,  October 
26,  1866,  Friday:— 

I  give  you  a  short  letter  now  which  will  make 
two  for  this  week,  enough  certainly  to  satisfy  the 
most  rapacious  of  mothers!  I  have  got  pretty 
well  settled  into  my  life  here  now,  of  which  one 
very  important  object  is  the  study  of  French. 
I  take  a  lesson  every  morning  from  a  very  good 
teacher,  and  go  to  a  theatre  most  every  evening, 
and  I  think  I  shall  make  rapid  progress,  in  fact, 
as  we  ought  to  know  a  good  deal  before  starting 
for  Russia,  it  is  advantageous  to  stay  here  a  month 
and  pitch  into  it.  I  have  got  quite  a  nice  little 
French  phaeton,  with  which  I  can  rattle  about 
the  town,  and  drive  up  to  the  Bois  in  the  after- 
noon, and  the  great  difficulty  is  to  find  a  decent  horse 
to  hire;  my  own  at  home  being  so  very  superior 
my  taste  has  been  quite  ruined.  I  saw  all  the 
Imperial  cortege  out  yesterday  driving,  but  I 
think  they  all  go  to  Compiegne  soon,  so  that  the 
season  won't  begin  here  for  some  time. 

General  De  Trobriand  is  here,  and  I  handed 
him  his  commission,  whereat  he  was  in  great 
doubt  whether  to  go  home  or  no.  He  wants  to 
accept  the  commission  of  colonel  of  the  31st 
Infantry  U.  S.  A.  Let  me  know  anything  you 
would  like  to  have  me  get  you  in  Paris.  I  can 
easily  find  time  to  get  it.  Exchange  is  so  different 
from  when  I  was  here  before  (On  leave  of  absence 
on  account  of  wound  during  the  war.)  that  one 
can  well  be  extravagant.  Nathan. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  21 

General  De  Trobriand. 

General  de  Trobriand,  author  of  quatre  ans  de  cam- 
pagnes  d  I'armce  du  Potomac  {Four  Y'ears  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac)  1867,  Paris,  Bruxelles,  (translated)  whose 
full  name  is  Philippe  Regis  Denis  de  Kerodem,  Baron  de 
Trobriand,  was  bom  near  Tours,  France,  June  4,  1816.  In 
the  United  States  he  was  known  as  Philippe  Regis  de 
Trobriand.  From  1849  to  1861,  in  New  York,  he  was 
editorially  connected  wdth  first  the  Revue  de  Nouveau 
Monde,  of  which  he  was  publisher,  and  then  the  Courrier 
des  Etats  Unis,  as  associate  editor.  In  August,  1861,  he 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  55th  New  York  Regiment, 
U.  S.  V.  of  the  Third  Corps,  promoted  to  Brigadier  General 
in  January,  1864,  and  from  May  to  June  of  that  year  had 
charge  of  the  defenses  of  New  York  City.  He  was  brev- 
etted  Major  General  U.  S.  V.  April  9,  1865,  and  was  in 
command  of  a  Division  at  Lee's  surrender.  In  1867,  he 
was  made  colonel  in  the  Regular  army  and  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  31st  Regt.  U.  S.  Infantry,  brevetted  Brigadier 
General  in  the  same  year,  commanding  the  district  of 
Dakota,  and  in  1869,  Vas  transferred  to  the  district  of 
Montana  and  the  colonelcy  of  the  13th  U.  S.  Infantry. 
Later  he  was  ordered  to  Green  River. 

I  visited  him  at  Camp  Douglas,  near  Salt  Lake  City,  in 
October,  1870,  and  had  a  good  opportunity  of  observing 
western  army  life  and  the  institution  of  Mormonism.  The 
camp  was  prettily  placed  on  the  slope  of  a  hill,  with 
quarters  comfortably  arranged.  Several  of  the  officers 
had  their  wives  with  them  which  made  quite  a  little 
society.  I  stayed  in  the  General's  house  and  had  a  horse 
at  my  disposal  whenever  I  wanted  to  take  a  ride,  and  so  I 
explored  some  of  the  picturesque  and  grand  scenery  of  the 
neighborhood  with  the  snow  capped  mountains  quite  near. 
To  go  into  the  city  we  generally  took  the  headquarters 
wagon  and  did  the  thing  in  style. 

General  de  Trobriand  was  the  father-in-law  of  my  friend 
and  classmate  Albert  Kintzing  Post,  so  naturally  our 
relations  were  most  friendly,  and  I  have  often  met  him  on 
both  sides  of  the  ocean.  He  was  in  New  Orleans  in  1875, 
during  the  reconstruction  period,  after  he  retired  from 
service  on  account  of  age,  having  been  stationed  there  for 
some  years. 

In  1885,  during  the  Cotton  Exposition  I  lunched  with 
him  at  his  house  in  New  Orleans,  and  met  him  and  some 


22  RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

friends  one  day  at  the  grounds,  where  we  strolled  about, 
and  had  a  picnic  repast  under  the  trees.  In  1887,  at 
Paris  I  saw  him  again.  It  was  in  the  summer,  and  at  my 
suggestion  he  joined  the  "  Franco- American,  "  known  first 
as  the  "Washington,"  Club,  and  he  enjoyed  dining  there 
at  the  table  d'hote  with  agreeable  companions. 

The  General  came  on  to  Class  Day  at  Har\-ard,  to  hear 
the  poem  delivered  by  his  grandson  Waldron  Kintzing 
Post,  the  son  of  my  old  classmate,  when  he  graduated  in 
June,  1890,  to  attend  the  "spread"  and  other  festivities, 
and  then  one  evening  we  had  a  little  family  dinner  at  the 
Somerset  Club.  After  passing  a  few  days  at  the  "Mas- 
conomo,"  Manchester-by-the-Sea,  with  his  daughter  and 
her  family,  he  went  to  the  Reunion  of  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  at  Portland,  Maine,  July  3d  and 
4th,  where  he  was  enthusiastically  received  by  the  com- 
rades of  his  old  Corps  the  Third,  and  elected  vice  president 
of  the  Society  to  represent  the  Third  Corps,  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  At  that  meeting  I  was  elected  a  vice  president 
in  behalf  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  it  being  the  custom  to  elect 
every  year,  in  addition  to  the  president,  vice  presidents 
and  other  officers  of  the  society,  a  vice  president  from  each 
army  corps  that  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

My  last  meeting  with  General  de  Trobriand  was  at  the 
wedding  of  his  grand  daughter  Lina  Beatrice  Post  to 
Hamilton  Fish  Webster,  at  the  Long  Island  summer  home 
of  the  Posts.  This  was  the  autumn  of  1891,  and  a  pretty 
wedding  it  was  in  the  little  church,  and  a  breakfast  later 
under  a  large  marquee.  Of  the  grandparents  of  the 
young  couple  present  at  the  wedding,  besides  General  de 
Trobriand,  there  were  Mrs.  Armand  de  Macarty,  grand- 
mother of  the  bride,  and  the  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  grand- 
father of  the  groom. 

General  de  Trobriand  died  at  the  home  of  his  daughter 
in  Bayport,  Long  Island,  July  15,  1897. 

To  My  Mother. 

Hotel  de  la  Paix,  Paris, 

October  31,  1866. 
My  dear  Mamma: 

I  have  been  calling  on  several  of  our  good  old 
Boston  citizens,  but  have  not  found  many  of  them 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  23 

at  home.  I  went  to  the  Louvre  the  other  day, 
and  found  that  lots  of  new  galleries  had  been 
added,  with  all  my  friends  of  the  French  school 
put  together,  and  I  reveled  in  Watteau,  Boucher, 
and  Fragonard.  I  do  not  do  much  sight-seeing, 
and  don't  care  to,  but  tomorrow  I  am  going  out 
to  Versailles  with  a  party  of  ladies  to  finish  up 
the  chateau.  This  afternoon  Charlie  Longfellow 
goes  with  me  driving  in  the  Bois.  Yesterday 
evening  Charlie,  Stanfield  and  Burgess  and  I  went 
to  the  "Lyrique"  and  saw  Faust  very  well  put 
upon  the  stage.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
seen  or  heard  the  opera,  and  I  thought  it  very 
fine.  Charlie  and  I  shall  start  off  for  Russia  prob- 
ably in  the  course  of  a  month,  as  we  are  not  in 
any  hurry  and  we  are  to  find  out  about  what  will 
be  the  best  season  to  be  there  and  then  hit  it. 
Charlie  is  studying  his  French  very  industriously, 
and  oddly  enough  he  has  tumbled  into  the  very 
same  rooms  that  Erny  (His  brother  Ernest  Long- 
fellow.) had  a  year  ago.  I  got  a  letter  from  brother 
Tom  at  London,  a  few  days  before  he  sailed.  He 
seemed  in  good  spirits  over  the  triumphs  of  the 
Alice. 

Friday  Morn:  Yesterday  I  had  a  very  good 
though  somewhat  fatiguing  day  at  Versailles,  and 
1  should  have  enjoyed  the  pictures  very  much  if 
I  could  see  them  by  degrees ;  but  there  are  so  many 
millions  that  one  glance  at  them  was  all  you  could 
get.  Some  of  those  illustrating  the  wars  of  the 
present  emperor  in  the  Crimea,  Italy  and  Algeria, 
are  very  fine.  We  had  a  young  French  "swell" 
to  chaperon  us,  and  of  course  saw  all  the  best 
things,  such  as  the  private  apartments  of  the 
Louis'  and  Marie  Antoinette.  I  visited  with 
Charlie,  on  Wednesday,  Jerome  Napoleon's  Pom- 


24  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

peiian  villa,  which  is  now  a  concert  room  and  well 
repays  a  visit.  I  don't  think  the  Pompeiian 
magnates  themselves  had  anything  quite  up  to  it. 
Charlie  and  H.  Stanfield  still  keep  up  their  yacht- 
ing fever  and  go  to  Asnieres  on  the  Seine  quite 
near  Paris,  and  sail  in  a  small  yacht  which  some 
French  count  whom  they  met  at  Dieppe,  has 
placed  at  their  disposition.  The  de  Trobriands 
leave  for  Brest  in  a  few  days,  to  pass  the  winter 
there  as  the  General  wishes  quiet  to  finish  his 
book  before  rejoining  the  army. 

Later:  Resolve  in  Favor  of  St.  Petersburg. 

Here  I  am  at  my  desk,  having  finished  my 
French  lessons,  and  having  written  a  long  busi- 
ness letter,  to  find  something  to  put  upon  paper 
in  reply  to  "No.  3." 

The  Boulevard  and  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  with 
the  Grand  Opera  and  the  Grand  Hotel  are  just 
opposite,  and  below  in  the  streets  there  is  a  continual 
excitement  of  passing  objects;  vehicles  and  pedes- 
trians, soldiers  and  beggars,  but  principally  Amer- 
icans. There  is  always  so  much  going  on  all  around, 
that  our  apartment  is  not,  perhaps,  the  best 
adapted  for  the  quiet  pursuit  of  literature.  You 
see  I  am  still  in  Paris,  and  perhaps  you  wonder 
whether  I  mean  to  leave  at  all.  Know  then  that 
Charlie  and  I  have  made  a  vigorous  resolution  to 
pack  up  and  be  off  the  25th  of  this  month,  stop- 
ping at  Brussels,  Berlin,  Kbnigsberg  on  the  Baltic, 
and  Wilna,  to  Saint  Petersburg,  and  then  Moscow, 
thus  seeing  the  real  winter  life  of  the  Russians. 
I  think  it  will  be  a  splendid  trip.  From  Moscow 
we  may  go  to  Odessa,  etc.,  but  this  is  very  doubt- 
ful, and  we  shall  probably  return  via  Warsaw  to 


RUE    DE     LA     PAIX     A      PARIS 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  25 

Dresden,   where  we  separate — I   for  Vienna,   and 
he  back  to  Paris. 

A  Review  by  Napoleon  III. 

Thursday  Eve:  A  few  days  ago,  Charlie  Jack- 
son drove  out  with  me  to  Longchamps,  where  the 
Emperor  had  quite  a  large  review  of  the  troops 
around  Paris.  There  were,  perhaps,  fifteen  thou- 
sand troops  there,  and  as  it  was  the  first  thing  of 
the  kind  I  had  seen  in  Europe,  it  was  very  inter- 
esting and  imposing,  and  brought  back  something 
of  the  old  mihtary  ardor.  The  Emperor  and 
Prince  were  there,  but  Napoleon  looked  rather 
shakey.     He  is  no  longer  young. 

I  saw  Mr.  T.  B.  Curtis  for  a  few  minutes  yester- 
day and  thought  he  was  seeming  quite  well  after 
his  sickness.  He  told  me  particularly  to  "go  it, 
while"  I  was  "young,"  adding  that  he  "had  had 
his  time."  His  advice  is  certainly  good.  At  the 
American  chapel  last  Sunday  were  crowds  and 
crowds  of  people,  but  very,  very  few  whom  I 
recognized.  The  same  day  Robert  H.  Stevenson 
and  I  went  to  the  last  races  of  the  season,  and  saw 
a  very  fair  steeple  chase,  but  as  it  was  some  ways 
out  of  Paris  there  were  not  many  there. 

A  Letter  from  My  Mother. 

Mv  mother  in  Boston  wrote  me  in  Paris,  Nov. 
11,  1866, —  .  .  .  "And  Charlie  Longfellow  is  in 
Paris!  AH  that  is  left  in  Boston  will  soon  find 
its  way  there.  I  had  a  very  pleasant  visit  from 
your  brother  Tom  last  evening,  telling  me  of  the 
Alice,  and  of  all  his  doings.  Ristori  (tragedienne) 
has    reigned    supreme    here    for   two    weeks,    and 


26  RUSSIAN   LIFE    AND    SOCIETY 

everybody  has  cried  to  their  satisfaction.  I  did 
not  dare  to  see  her  for  I  felt  that  I  should  not  sleep 
for  a  month  after  it." 

Adelaide  Ristori. 

I  first  saw  Adelaide  Ristori,  mentioned  in  my  mother's 
letter,  at  the  theatre  at  Havana,  in  Medea,  when  I  was 
there  in  February,  1868,  and  I  met  her  and  her  daughter 
Bianca  at  a  reception  given  at  the  hotel.  Later,  in  the 
summer  of  1884,  at  Paris,  I  was  taken  to  her  apartment  by 
Mr.  Henry  F.  Gillig,  president  of  the  American  Exchange 
in  Europe,  and  saw  her  and  her  husband  the  Marquis 
Giuliano  Capranica  del  Grillo,  just  as  they  were  preparing 
to  leave  the  city  for  their  trip  to  America.  I  remember 
that  the  rooms  were  encumbered  with  their  baggage, 
which  was  in  every  stage  of  packing  for  their  departure. 
The  following  winter  1884-5,  when  I  was  living  at  the 
Vendome  Hotel,  Boston,  I  called  upon  them  at  the  Tre- 
mont  House,  and  introduced  to  them  Mr.  C.  C.  Perkins, 
one  of  our  citizens  most  prominent  in  music,  art,  literature, 
etc.,  who  was  very  desirous  of  meeting  the  great  tra- 
gedienne. He  chatted  with  her  in  her  native  language,  as 
he  had  long  resided  in  Italy,  and  had  written  several 
books  when  there. 

La  Diva,  Cafe  Napolitaine. 

To  My  Mother  from  Paris,  Nov.  15,  1866. 

Charlie  dropped  in  yesterday  just  before  din- 
ner, and  we  decided  to  start  on  the  24th,  25th,  or 
26th,  for  Brussels,  and  then  have  a  look  at  Water- 
loo; thence  to  Berlin  to  buy  fur  coats,  and  so  to 
Russia.  Went  to  the  Italian  opera  last  night  and 
heard  "Crispino  e  la  Camare"  ("The  Cobbler  and 
the  Fairy.")  sung  by  dear  little  Patti.  She  has 
improved  much  since  I  saw  her  two  or  three  years 
ago  in  America,  and  quite  captivated  me.  I 
should  make  her  acquaintance  if  I  was  to  remain 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  27 

long,  as  she  prides  herself  on  being  American, 
and  goes  to  Mrs.  John  Bigelow's  soirees.  At  the 
Cafe  Napolitaine  later  a  crowd  of  Boston  men 
tumbled  in.  It  is  our  favorite  resort  for  smoking 
our  nocturnal  cigar, —  George  Weld,  Ned  John- 
son, Bob  Stevenson,  and  others.  The  great  talk 
is  the  winter  ocean  race  between  three  of  the  New 
York  Club  yachts,  the  Henrietta  (owned  by  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  Jr.),  Fleetwing,  and  Vesta.  (The 
Henrietta  with  her  owner  on  board  won  the  race.) 
In  that  case  the  Alice  will  have  to  be  put  afloat 
again.  Well,  adieu  for  a  week,  and  then  my  last 
from  Paris.  Nathan. 

Adelina  Patti,  now  (1904)  Baroness  Cederstrom, 
was  in  Boston  in  1885,  and  I  happened  to  be 
introduced  to  her  early  in  that  year  when  I  was 
living  at  the  Vendome.  She  was  with  her  second 
husband,  Nicolini. 

The  New  York  Yacht  Club. 

May  17,  1866,  I  was  notified  that  at  a  meeting  held  that 
day  I  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  New  York  Yacht 
Club.  The  yacht  Henrietta,  owned  by  James  Gordon 
Bennett  Jr.,  belonged  to  the  squadron.  Bennett's  colors 
were  a  blue  diamond  and  a  red  crescent  on  white  ribbons. 

I  once  had  the  pleasure  of  calling  upon  Mr.  James  Gor- 
don Bennett  Senior.  It  was  one  Sunday  morning,  in  the 
spring  of  1872,  when  I  was  on  a  visit  to  America.  I  was 
strolling  up  Fifth  Avenue  with  Mr.  Leonard  W.  Jerome. 
As  we  came  to  Mr.  Bennett's  house  on  the  comer  of  38th 
street,  he  proposed  that  we  should  go  in  and  pay  a  visit  to 
the  old  gentleman,  who  was  then  very  infirm  and  evidently 
destined  not  long  to  live.  I  was  delighted  at  the  opportun- 
ity of  seeing  him,  for  although  I  had  stayed  with  his  son 
at  their  fine  place  at  Washington  Heights,  and  often  dined 
at  the  city  mansion,  I  had  never  been  able  to  be  introduced 
to  the  father,  as  he  was  quite  unwell,  and  generally  con- 
fined to  his  room. 


28  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

We  were  shown  up  stairs  to  a  small  study,  where  Mr. 
Bennett  was  seated  in  a  comfortable  easy  chair,  in  a  loose 
dressing  gown,  with  a  quantity  of  the  daily  newspapers 
lying  around  him.  We  sat  there  conversing  with  him 
some  time,  and  I  remember  his  speaking  of  the  proposed 
plan  of  rapid  transit  for  New  York,  and  how  he  had,  years 
before,  advocated  the  idea  in  his  paper,  the  New  York 
Herald.  He  spoke  very  strongly  of  the  future  growth  of 
the  city.  It  was  only  a  few  months  after  I  saw  him  that 
he  died. 

The  Four-in-Hand  Club. 

Near  Mr.  Bennett's  place  at  Washington  Heights  and 
the  Hudson  River  the  Four-in  Hand  Club  had  a  house  for 
several  years.  I  remember  driving  there  for  a  ball  the 
autumn  of  1870,  with  Colonel  WilHam  Jay  and  a  party  of 
ladies,  and  then  returning  through  some  of  the  unfinished 
roads,  nearly  upsetting  on  the  way.  The  Club  was  started, 
as  far  as  I  can  remember  in  1866.  I  was  elected  a  member 
January  20th  of  that  year;  the  idea  of  membership  being 
any  one  who  had  a  "four-in-hand,  "  "spike,  "  or  "unicorn," 
—  three  horses,  two  in  the  pole  and  one  on  the  lead,  — 
"tandem,"  i.  e.  something  different  from  the  ordinary 
single  horse  or  pair  hitch.  I  had  a  tandem  at  the  time. 
The  president  was  George  Griswold  Gray,  whom  I  had 
known  at  Newport.  The  Club  came  to  an  end,  but  I  can- 
not say  what  year.  The  Coaching  or  Four-in-Hand  Club 
of  New  York  lias  taken  its  place. 

James  Gordon  Bennett   Jr. 

My  first  recollection  of  meeting  Mr.  James  Gordon  Ben- 
nett Jr.,  was  on  the  deck  of  his  yacht  Henrietta,  at  the 
spring  meeting  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club,  June  19, 
1866. 

I  had  been  the  guest,  on  his  yacht,  of  Commodore  Mc- 
Vickar  (W.  H.  McVickar,  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
New  York  Yacht  Club  and  its  commodore  in  1866.  He 
died  in  New  York,  Nov.  25,  1896.  aged  78.)  when  Mr. 
William  C.  Otis  was  fleet  captain,  and  some  time  during 
the  afternoon  we  paid  a  call  upon  the  young  captain  of 
the  Henrietta.     This  was  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  and 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  29 

a  very  pretty  scene  it  was.  Later  on,  i.  e  during  the 
summer  of  1870,  on  my  n;turn  from  Europe,  where  I  had 
often  seen  Mr.  Bennett  in  Paris  at  the  Washington  Club, 
he  invited  me  to  join  a  party  on  his  new  yacht  the  Daunt- 
less at  New  London,  and  make  the  cruise  from  there  to 
Newport,  which  I  did. 

We  were  a  jolly  party,  —  Lawrence  Jerome,  Harry 
Stanfield,  A.  W.  Knapp  and  others.  With  reference  to 
James  Gordon  Bennett  Jr.,  in  a  letter  from  Newport  to  the 
Boston  Globe  in  August  IS76,  I  remarked:  —  "Newport 
certainly  owes  a  great  deal  this  year  to  the  enterprise  of 
Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  in  introducing  the  games  of 
polo  and  la  crosse,  for  the  afternoon  reunions  at  the  polo 
grounds  have  become  one  of  the  most  delightful  features 
of  the  life  here  this  summer,  and  Mr.  Bennett  has  proved 
himself  to  be  as  much  at  home  astride  of  his  pony,  as  he 
was  not  many  years  ago  on  the  deck  of  his  yacht,  when  he 
gallantly  offered  his  services  to  the  government  during  the 
civil  war,  (He  was  with  the  blockading  fleet  in  his  yacht 
from  1861  to  1865.)  or  when  he  pluckily  scudded  across 
the  Atlantic  in  mid-winter  for  the  great  ocean  race. 

In  1881  and  1882,  I  remember  dining  at  his  house,  the 
old  Brooks  greystone  mansion  on  Bellevue  Avenue,  New- 
port, where  he  entertained  with  generous  hospitality,  as 
also,  at  his  New  York  home.  Fifth  Avenue  corner  of  3Sth 
street.  He  had  a  fine,  old  fashioned  family  butler,  who 
seemed  to  take  delight  in  looking  after  the  comfort  of  his 
friends  and  guests.  The  last  time  I  was  in  the  New  York 
house  was  at  lunch  -vxnth  the  Austin  Corbins,  who  had  then 
rented  and  afterwards  purchased  it.  This  was  in  1886. 
Austin  Corbin,  financier  and  philanthropist  was  killed  by 
being  thrown  from  his  carriage  at  his  country  place  at 
Newport,  N.  H.,  in  June,  1896,  aged  69. 

In  Paris  too,  I  would  occasionally  meet  Mr.  Bennett, 
and  he  generally  made  some  enquiry  about  the  Panama 
Canal. 

Polo   and   Horse-Racing. 

What  I  have  seen  both  of  polo  and  horse-racing 
has  made  me  consider  them  both,  if  not  actually 
cruel  sports  for  horses,  at  least  those  in  which 
a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  hard  treatment  is 
inflicted    upon   the   poor   animals   who  try  to  do 


30  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

their  best.  In  polo  they  seem  to  be  jerked  about 
indiscriminately,  and  whacked  over  the  head  and 
body  by  the  polo  mallets.  In  running  races  the 
use  of  the  whip  and  spur  is  often  an  abomination. 
I  have  seen  a  horse  straining  his  utmost  and  at 
the  same  time  receiving  the  cruel  blows  of  the 
whip  in  a  way  which  might  naturally  discourage 
him  from  making  his  best  efforts,  but  which  in 
addition  to  this,  by  cramping  his  nerves  and 
muscles,  must  actually  keep  him  back  instead 
of  leading  him  on.  Often,  too,  this  is  done  to 
some  horse  so  far  behind  that  he  can  have 
no  chance  of  winning  the  race.  I  believe  horses 
are  frequently  demoralized  and  even  made  vicious 
from  the  senseless  and  inhuman  treatment  they 
receive.  To  get  the  best  out  of  a  horse  you  have 
only  to  encourage,  not  discourage  him.  He 
understands  more  than  we  give  him  credit  for. 
My  only  experience  as  the  owner  of  a  race  horse 
was  "during  the  spring  of  1866,  when  I  had  bought 
a  very  pretty  and  graceful  little  animal,  which 
had  the  name  of  "Carolina  Filly."  She  had  been 
secured  after  the  war  by  General  Joseph  J.  Bart- 
lett,  who  sold  her  to  Mr.  George  W.  Weld,  from 
whom  I  bought  her.  She  ran  under  my  colors, 
blue  and  silver,  once  at  Clyde  Park,  now  the  Coun- 
try Club,  but  was  not  victorious. 

Races  on  the  Newport  Beach. 

At  4.30  p.  m.  on  the  30th  of  August,  1866,  there 
was  a  flat  race  and  steeple  chase  at  Newport,  at 
which  13  horses  were  entered,  and  an  account  of 
which  appeared  in  the  local  press,   as  follows: — 

Newport  has  really  had  another  sensation,  in  fact  has 
been  convulsed  to  its" "head"  centre.    (Allusion  to  Fenian- 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  31 

ism  then  very  rampant.)  Yes,  the  old  town  has  been 
startled  by  the  spectacle  of  no  less  a  modern  invention 
than  a  hurdle  race! 

"Is  Saratoga  to  do  all  the  racing?"  muttered  the  New- 
port Jockey  Club,  "Are  there  not  greener  laurels  to  be 
gathered  in  other  fields?  We  have  no  track  it  is  true,  yet 
we  can  make  tracks.  Our  horses  have  not  received  a 
university  education,  but  what  of  that?  We  have.  We 
will  show  them  how  to  surmount  difficulties.  We  will  be 
our  own  jockeys,  and  risk  our  own  gentlemanly  lives.  It 
shall  be  neck  or  nothing. 

So  it  was  settled  there  should  be  a  race,  and  for  the  past 
week  Fashion  has  talked  itself  eloquent  over  the  matter 
of  hurdles.  On  Thursday  the  excitement  culminated 
when  Easton's  Beach,  where  Channing  once  drew  inspira- 
tion, and  where  since,  the  lesser  mortals  have  "drawn 
their  slow  length  along"  in  the  moist  costume  of  the  sea, 
found  itself  transformed  into  a  race  course,  and  its  classic 
sands  desecrated  by  the  presence  of  hurdles ! 

One  great  charrn  of  the  affair  was  to  be  its  selectness. 
Only  you  and  I  and  our  dear  five  hundred  friends  were  to 
know  "anything  about  it.  It  was  to  be  a  bonne  bouche  for 
our  private  eating.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  five  hundred 
people  never  can  keep  a  secret,  and  the  little  family  party 
turned  out  to  be  the  largest  concourse  of  bipeds  and 
quadrupeds  that  Newport  has  seen  for  many  a  day. 
Fashion  glittered  and  shone,  respectable  elderly  parties 
fairly  thrilled  with  excitement.  Newport  rich  and  New- 
port poor,  stood  side  by  side  in  every  species  of  vehicle, 
from  barouche  to  butcher's  wagon.  (There  were  about 
7000  spectators  and  500  carriages.)  The  way  in  which 
most  of  the  horses  shied  around  the  hurdles,  bolted  and 
did  everything  but  go  over  them,  was  delectable  Yet, 
let  not  the  Jockey  Club  be  disparaged.  Considering  the 
circumstances  its  gallant  members  covered  themselves 
with  glory,  —  a  few  of  them  were  additionally  covered 
with  something  of  a  more  clinging  nature.  One  daring 
rider  (Nathan  Appleton)  landed  on  his  head,  another 
(Prince  OurousofT)  mingled  himself  with  the  sands  of  the 
sea,  but  all  lived  to  tell  the  short  but  moving  tale,  and  the 
winner  (Baron  de  Mesnil  of  Belgium)  lived  to  receive  a 
silver  cup  from  the  hands  of  the  lady  (Mrs.  Paran  Stevens) 
who  had  been  most  actively  interested  in  the  day's  sport. 
Thus  does  beauty  reward  the  brave.  In  honor  of  the  fait 
accompli  the  Jockey  Club  will  give  a  fete  the  beginning  of 


32  RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

next  week.  (Captain  Harry  Russell  of  Narragansett 
Avenue  was  declared  winner  of  the  second  race,  which  was 
a  steeple  chase,  the  first  one  having  been  over  a  flat  course 
of  beach).  Pursuant  to  this  announcement  cards  were 
issued  by  the  Gentlemen  Riders  of  the  Newport  Race, 
inviting  their  friends  to  the  Jockeys'  Ball  on  Monday, 
September  3d,  1866,  at  the  Academy  of  Music.  " 

Ten  Years  Later.     A  Retrospect 

Speaking  of  horse  races  in  a  letter  from  New- 
port to  the  Boston  Globe,  under  date  of  August 
26,  1876,  I  called  to  mind  the  events  of  ten  years 
previous : — 

"We  have  only  to  look  up  the  records  of  ten  years  ago, 
and  we  will  find  that  then  at  least,  perhaps  even  long 
before,  they  had  taken  place.  Ah!  It  was  a  brilliant  sea- 
son, that  of  1866.  We  were  a  jolly  crowd,  representing 
the' jeunesse  dore'e  of  many  nations.  There  was  a  young 
Russian  Prince,  several  Frenchmen,  —  one  representative 
of  the  old  noblesse  and  another  of  the  Napoleonic  regime,  — 
a  sturdy  Belgian,  and  plenty  of  Americans,  some  fresh 
from  the  excitement  of  the  war  a  year  before^  And  we 
had  races  on  the  beach  when  many  were  the  mishaps  that 
befell  the  riders.  One  of  them,  needless  to  say  who,  had  a 
hard-mouthed  horse  which  he  could  not  control,  and  so, 
near  the  finish,  rushing  up  among  the  assembled  crowd  of 
carriages  he  distinguished  himself  by  leaping  clear  over  a 
pony-phaeton,  in  which  were  two  young  ladies,  and  then 
depositing  himself  half-stunned  in  the  sand.  The  account 
of  this  may  be  found  in  the  old  files  of  the  Newport  A^ews 
but  a  better  souvenir  of  it  still  remains  for  those  who  took 
part,  in  the  shape  of  a  colored  print  now  in  the  Country 
Club  in  Brookline.  which  was  pubHshed  by  one  of  the 
riders,  an  Irish  nobleman.  Viscount  Southwell,  from  his 
own  sketch,  in  which  he  gives  a  fanciful  representation  of 
the  great  race  for  a  cup  presented  by  Mrs.  Paran  Stevens, 
the  ladv  who  then,  as  now  (1876)  presided  so  graciously 
over  many  of  Newport's  hospitalities  and  festivities,  and 
whose  charming  villa  could  tell  many  a  tale  of  'vanished 
summer  glory. '  " 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  33 

The  Race  at  Newport. 

The  colored  print  of  the  race  in  the  Country 
Club,  by  Viscount  Southwell,  represents  the  race 
as  if  it  was  on  the  turf  instead  of  the  sands  of  the 
beach,  as  was  actually  the  case,  but  this  was  to 
make  it  more  natural,  as  it  was  the  only  kind  of 
race  to  which  he  was  accustomed.  In  fact  racing 
on  the  beach  was  a  new  departure,  and  I  have 
heard  it  stated  that  this  was  the  first  one  with 
"gentlemen  riders"  which  had  ever  occurred,  in 
the  Northern  States  at  least.  He  brought  in  on 
the  slope  of  the  hill  leading  down  to  the  beach, 
the  coach  and  four-in-hand  of  Hon.  August  Bel- 
mont, who  had  at  that  time  the  most  correct 
equipages  to  be  found  in  our  country.  Mr.  Bel- 
mont in  those  days  drove  occasionally  "en  dau- 
mont,"  i.e.  four  horses  attached  to  an  open 
barouche  with  postilions  dressed  for  summer  in 
jackets,  top  boots  and  tall  white  hats,  as  you 
see  them  in  Europe. 

Mr.  G.  G.  Gray  would  at  times  bring  out  his 
open  break  with  five  horses,  three  at  the  wheel, 
then  two,  and  one  on  the  lead,  a  very  fanciful  and 
effective  rig.  I  must  not  forget  that  at  the  Coun- 
try Club  there  is  also  a  satin  programme  of  the 
race,  with  the  names  of  the  horses,  their  owners 
and  riders,  contributed  by  some  other  person. 
It  makes  the  affair  complete,  and  it  is  a  valuable 
relic  of  those  old  davs  of  gavety. 

In  the  summer  of"  1882,  Mr.  Ely  Goddard  had 
some  marvellous  turnouts.  He  had  a  fancy  for 
horses  of  bay  and  white,  like  those  you  see  in  the 
circus,  and  often  call  "wishing  horses,"  and 
managed  to  drive  them  four-in-hand,  unicorn, 
three  abreast,  tandem,  a  pair,  or  even  one  alone. 


34  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

It  was  really  remarkable  how  he  could  find  so 
many  of  these  variegated  animals  to  serve  his 
purpose. 

The    Washington    Club. 

As  far  as  I  can  remember,  the  Washington 
Club  in  Paris,  to  which  I  refer  in  my  recollections 
of  James  Gordon  Bennett  Jr.,  was  started  in  the 
winter  of  1868  and  '69,  the  idea  being  to  have  it 
a  purely  American  club,  on  the  same  principles 
as  those  in  the  United  States.  I  was  not  one  of 
the  incorporators,  but  joined  it  shortly  after  it 
was  organized,  and  May  8,  1869,  was  elected  one 
of  the  board  of  direction. 

I  hardly  know  what  to  say  of  the  Washington 
Club,  so  many  souvenirs  does  it  now  recall.  Mr. 
Willett,  always  known  as  "Bronnie"  Willett, 
was  the  first  secretary,  and  I  succeeded  him  in 
the  first  year,  1869,  and  continued  until  1872. 
Mr.  W.  Pembroke  Fetridge  and  I  were  the  two  most 
active  persons  in  bringing  Americans  there,  and 
having  them  join  as  temporary  or  permanent 
members. 

While  I  held  the  position  of  secretary  I  kept 
the  records  very  carefully,  and  one  of  the  notes 
regarding  membership  I  have  now  in  my  scrap- 
book  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Drexel,  of  the 
banking  house  of  Drexel,  Harjes  &  Co.: — 

3  Rue  Scribe,  Paris. 
January  4,  1869 

My  dear  Sir. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  the  notification  of  my  election  to  the 
"Washington  Club. " 

After  authorizing  Mr.  Bowles  to  propose  my  name,  upon 
reflecting  that  my  stay  here  would  be  so  short  that  it  would 
be  of  no  use  to  me  to  join,  I  concluded  to  ask  him  when  I 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  35 

saw  him  again,  not  to  do  so,  and  therefore  prefer  declining 
to  become  a  member,  altho'  the  Club  has  my  hearty- 
sympathy. 

Wishing,  however,  that  one  of  our  firm  should  become  a 
member,  I  beg  of  you  to  propose  the  name  of  our  Mr. 
Eugene  Winthrop  in  my  place.  Hoping  this  substitution 
will  be  satisfactory  to  you 

I  remain  very  truly  yours, 
A.  J.  Drexel. 
N.  Appleton,  Esq. 

The  first  apartment  the  Washington  Club  occu- 
pied was  a  good  suite  of  rooms,  well  adapted  to 
its  uses  at  that  time,  belonging  to  Dr.  Thomas 
W.  Evans  in  the  Rue  Auber,  which  he  offered  to 
the  Club  free  of  rent.  They  were,  however,  too 
high  up,  on  the  third  floor,  and  not  quite  large 
enough,  and  during  the  summer  of  1869,  it  was 
decided  to  take  an  apartment  at  the  corner  of  the 
old  Rue  de  la  Paix,  by  the  opening,  or  rather 
the  beginning  of  the  Avenue  de  I'Opera,  diag- 
onally across  from  the  Grand  Hotel,  the  first 
floor  over  the  entresol. 

When  I  returned  from  Egypt  and  the  opening 
of  the  Suez  Canal,  I  wrote  my  sister  in  Boston, 
December  19th,  1869,  "We  Americans  have  just 
got  into  our  new  club  rooms  on  the  corner  of  the 
Boulevard,  what  was  formerly  the  Rue  de  la  Paix 
(Now  Place  de  I'Opera),  and  a  new  street  cut 
through  to  the  Bourse.  It  is  the  finest  situation 
in  Paris,  and  we  are  in  a  most  prosperous  state, 
and  begin  to  wonder  how  we  ever  got  on  without 
a  club  before.  " 

It  soon  became  popular  in  the  American  colony, 
and  a  rendezvous   for  the   transient   travellers. 

Mr.  Lorillard  Spencer  was  the  president,  and 
Mr.  J.  F.  Loubat  the  treasurer.  I  have  preserved 
the  receipt  of  my  payment  of  500  francs  for  mem- 


36  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

bership.  It  is  number  7,  dated  May  28,  1869, 
and  signed  by  J.  F.  Loubat,  who  at  the  present 
time  (1904)  is  le  Due  de  Loubat,  a  title  he  received 
from  the  Pope. 

In  New  York,  on  September  28,  1873.  he  pre- 
sented to  me  his  book  entitled  "Narrative  of  the 
Mission  to  Russia  in  1866,  of  the  Hon.  Gustavus 
Vasa  Fox,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
From  the  Journal  and   Notes  of  J.    F.   Loubat." 

Mr.  Wm.  Pembroke  Fetridge,  Mr.  Alfred  Lock- 
wood,  Mr.  de  la  Chaise,  Dr.  "Tom"  Pratt,  Mr. 
Sheppard,  Armand  Voisin,  the  Lorillards,  George 
and  Louis,  Elisha  Riggs,  John  Garcia  and  Augus- 
tus Samanos,  both  Cubans,  Lloyd  Phoenix,  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  and  others,  were  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Club.  Indeed  the  membership  included 
many  noted  and  rich  Americans,  with  the  Min- 
ister, Consul  General,  and  other  officials  of  the 
U.   S.   Government,   as  honorary  members. 

At  that  time  there  was  no  restaurant,  but  read- 
ing and  card  rooms,  a  billiard  table  and  bar,  and 
plenty  of  American  newspapers. 

The  rooms  extended  around  the  corner  of  the 
Boulevard  des  Italiens.  When  I  returned  to  Paris 
about  a  week  or  ten  days  after  the  collapse  of  the 
Commune,  in  May,  1871,  I  was  one  of  the  first  to 
look  in  upon  the  old  club,  and  it  was  in  many 
respects  a  scene  of  desolation. 

The  Versailles  troops  who  came  down  the  Rue 
Auber,  found  it  right  in  their  line  of  shooting,  as 
they  attacked  the  Communists,  and  many  were 
the  broken  windows  and  glasses  in  the  different 
rooms. 

I  picked  up  a  lot  of  bullets,  or  found  them  in 
the  walls,  and,  knowing  how  soon  they  would  be 
lost  or  disappear,   had  them  neatly   arranged  in 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  37 

a  case  under  glass,  to  preserve  them,  an  interest- 
ing relic  of  the  Commune. 

Several  of  us  members  of  the  club  met  there  one 
afternoon,  and  were  endeavoring  in  various  ways 
to  be  reasonably  gay  under  the  circumstances, 
when  one  who  was  by  his  family  partly  related 
to  France  appeared,  and  thought  it  was  all  wrong 
for  us  to  be  so  light-hearted  in  the  day  of  France's 
trouble.  We  said,  on  the  contrary,  that  we 
thought  we  ought  all  to  make  the  best  of  the  situ- 
ation, and  so  help  retrieve  the  sadness  of  the  past, 
and  so  we  did. 

The  club  still  exists,  and  we  old  members  have 
been  given  the  privilege  of  life  membership,  so 
that  we  can  avail  ourselves  of  its  rooms  whenever 
we  may  happen  to  be  in  Paris.  This  adds  much 
to  the  comfort  of  a  sojourn  there,  as  the  table 
d'hote  breakfast  at  twelve,  and  dinner  at  seven, 
were  as  good  as  any  to  be  had  in  Paris,  while  the 
view  from  the  balcony  is   a  perpetual  delight. 

I  have  often  been  there  since,  but  the  club 
name  has  been  changed  to  that  of  "Le  Cercle 
Franco- Americain,"  so  as  to  admit  persons  of 
various  nationalities. 

An  interesting  album  of  portraits  of  the  promi- 
nent members,  painted  by  Mr.  Armand  Dumaresq, 
was  one  of  its  attractions  when  I  was  there  in 
1887.  Mine  was  very  good,  and  under  my  name 
I  had  written   "le  Champion  de   Panama." 

The  autumn  of  1894,  part  of  September,  all  of 
October,  and  part  of  November,  I  passed  in  Paris, 
to  find  out  what  the  new  Panama  Canal  Company 
proposed  to  do,  and  also  to  place  the  bronze 
marker  of  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution  by  the  grave  of  Lafayette  in  Picpus 
Cemetery,  Paris.     While  there  I  noticed  the  apart- 


38  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

ment  of  the  Franco- American  Club  was  closed, 
and  was  told  how  it  happened  to  be  so,  but  that 
the  members  could  go  to  the  ' '  Cercle  des  Capu- 
cines"  nearly  opposite,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
boulevard  of  that  name.  I  went  there  one  after- 
noon, and  sent  up  my  card,  and  was  cordially 
received  by  my  old  friend,  William  Pembroke 
Fetridge,  Lynch,  Davis,  and  others,  and  Fetridge 
invited  me  to  dine  with  some  of  them  which  I  did. 

From  My  Mother  in  Boston,  Sunday, 
November  18,  1866. 

"I  have  received  this  last  week  your  nice  letter 
of  October  30.  I  read  it  to  Longfellow,  and  he 
was  pleased  to  hear  so  much  of  Charlie.  He 
says,  'Do  caution  the  boys  to  guard  their  ears 
and  noses  in  going  to  Russia.  They  are  frozen 
before  one  is  aware  of  it,  and  once  thoroughly 
chilled  you   never  recover  from  the  effects.' 

Monday  evening:  I  have  been  to  Cambridge 
again  today.  Your  'Brother  Henry'  (Longfellow) 
has  seen  a  Russian  gentleman  who  tells  him 
November  is  too  early  in  the  season  to  go  there." 

To  My  Mother  from  Paris,  November  21,  1866. 

This  is  my  last  from  Paris  for  some  time.  I 
tear  myself  from  the  distractions  and  gayeties, 
from  the  Bois  and  the  dance,  to  meet  the  frantic 
embrace  of  the  Russian  bear.  I  am  quite  crazy 
about  the  St.  Petersburg  trip,  my  anticipations 
are  so  high,  and  we  long  so  to  be  ofE,  and  every  night 
I  fall  asleep  dreaming  of  driving  troikas  with 
three  horses  about  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg 
and   Moscow,  skating  the  American   touch  on   the 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  39 

Neva,  endless  flirtations  with  Russian  Princesses 
and  Polish  Countesses  in  the  salons  and  boudoirs 
of  St.  Petersburg.  All  this,  too,  is  a  terra  incog- 
nita, and  our  life  is  not  all  cut  and  dried  for  us, 
as  in  Rome  or  Paris.  My  plan  is  this, —  to  pass 
the  winter  just  where  it  will  be  agreeable,  St.  P., 
Moscow,  or  Vienna,  or  perhaps  a  trip  to  Greece 
and  Constantinople,  with  the  Carnival  in  Venice, 
but  certainly  return  to  Paris  in  April  for  the  Expo- 
sition, and  London  for  the  season,  and  then  to 
America  early  in  the  summer.  However,  if  you 
want  me  to  come,  if  you  feel  nervous  or  unwell, 
don't  hesitate  a  moment  to  write  me,  and  I  can 
easily  and  without  regret  turn  about.  On  Sat- 
urday, at  five,  I  leave  Burgess  alone,  much  to  his 
regret,  and  Charlie  and  self  go  to  Brussels,  where 
we  arrive  just  exactly  in  time  for  the  "revelry 
by  night,"  a  peep  at  Waterloo,  if  not  too  cold, 
and  then  on  to  Berlin  to  congratulate  Bismarck 
on  the  state  of  Europe,  through  Poland  to  Rus- 
sia, a  journey  of  a  few  days  only.  You  will  be 
pleased  to  know  that  I  have  not  yet  lost  your 
little  package  for  Eliza  Carnatz,  and  I  doubt  not 
that  it  will  reach  her  in  safety.  On  Friday  I 
dine  at  the  T.  B.  Curtis's,  and  on  Wednesday  with 
Weld  and  a  lot  of  men  at  "Philippe's."  Have 
you  ever  heard  about  my  horses,  if  they  are  well? 
I  trust  they  will  do  the  winter  comfortably. 
Don't  you  want  me  to  bring  you  home  a  nice  little 
French  "Victoria"  this  summer,  instead  of  the 
old  family  ark?  (The  old  family  carriage  imported 
by  my  uncle  Samuel  Appleton  and  after  his  death, 
in  1853,  taken  by  my  father.)  As  to  the  Bois,  I 
can  safely  say  that  if  I  had  my  Boston  turnout 
here  complete  there  would  not  be  a  prettier  one 
in  Paris. 


40  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Thursday:  I  am  reading  now  with  my  French 
teacher,  Theophile  Gautier's  Voyage  en  Russie, 
and  find  it  most  entertaining  and  instructive, 
particularly  as  he  gives  a  couleur  de  rose  account 
of  the  winter  amusements  ...  I  take  up  my 
pen  for  the  third  time  to  finish  this,  but  you  know 
there  is  never  the  least  opportunity  of  doing  any- 
thing in  Paris,  or  even  of  finishing  what  is  begun, 
and  except  my  weekly  letters  to  you  I  have 
scarcely  written  at  all.  My  groom  has  just  been 
amusing  himself  with  packing  up  some  of  my 
traps,  as  I  have  one  good  sized  trunk  to  leave  in 
Paris  full  of  summer  clothes,  which  I  don't  think 
I  shall  want,  and  odds  and  ends  I  have  picked 
up  here. 

Received  an  invitation  yesterday  from  the 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  to  confer  with  him  on 
matters  of  importance  for  the  church  in  Paris. 

Adieu  to  Paris. 

Today  is  dull  and  dreary  out,  but  except  for 
the  Bois  it  makes  little  difference  in  P. 

I  leave  my  phaeton,  etc.,  at  the  Bank.  I  am 
going  to  try  to  find  William  Hunt,  the  artist, 
today.  Well,  I  close  and  take  this  to  the  mail. 
Adieu  to  Paris  and  mes  beaux  jours — en  route! — 
Russia  and  the  North!     Love  to   all. 

Nate. 

William    Morris    Hunt. 

While  he  lived  I  regarded  William  M.  Hunt 
as  the  first  American  artist,  certainly  in  the  line 
of  portrait  painting.  I  wanted  for  a  long  time 
to  possess  one  of  his  pictures,  and  I  would  have 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  41 

liked  to  have  had  him  paint  my  own  portrait, 
but  I  never  had  the  opportunity  of  doing  so. 

One  day  in  1866,  just  before  he  was  to  sail  for 
Europe,  I  went  to  his  studio,  and  after  some  talk 
with  him,  he  said  he  would  let  me  have  the  head 
of  Lincoln,  which  he  had  painted  as  a  study  for 
the  full  length  portrait  now  in  Faneuil  Hall,  for 
eight  hundred  dollars,  currency.  I  agreed  to  pur- 
chase it  and  the  bargain  was  made.  He  told 
me  that  he  wanted  to  take  it  with  him  to  Paris, 
that  he  might  exhibit  it  at  the  great  Exhibition 
of  1867,  and  I  was  pleased  at  this,  and  readily 
acceded  to  it,  as  I  thought  the  portrait  would 
have  an  additional  interest  and  value  from  having 
been  there.  It  was  understood  that  I  should  not 
pay  for  the  picture  until  it  was  delivered  to  me, 
and  a  bill  of  sale  was  made  out  to  this  effect.  I 
afterwards  saw  the  portrait  both  at  Mr.  Hunt's 
studio  at  Paris,  and  also  in  the  American  depart- 
ment of  the  Exhibition,  where  it  attracted  con- 
siderable attention,  and  I  gave  myself  no  concern 
as  to  when  I  should  own  it. 

It  so  happened  that  the  painting  never  came 
into  my  possession  before  my  financial  troubles 
in  1872,  and  after  that,  of  course,  I  no  longer 
thought  of  having  it. 

After  his  death  by  drowning  (He  was  found 
dead  in  the  water.)  at  Appledore,  Isles  of  Shoals, 
N.  H.,  Sept.  8,  1879,  his  widow,  the  late  Mrs. 
Louisa  D.  Hunt,  was  very  disinclined  to  part 
with  it,  and  so  I  never  pressed  my  claim.  Accord- 
ing to  a  provision  in  her  will  a  large  number  of  his 
paintings  and  charcoal  drawings  were  sold  at  public 
auction  and  the  Lincoln  portrait  was  reserved  at 
the  sale  in  February,  1898,  at  the  request  of  the 
Government.     Mr.  Hunt  was  a  curious  man,  bril- 


42  RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

liant,  full  of  eccentricities,  and  very  fascinating 
in  certain  moods.  His  age  was  only  fifty-five 
when  he  died. 

Regarding  the  portrait  I  received  the  follow- 
ing note,  dated  May  5,   1866: — 

My  dear  Appleton, 

If  you  would  like  my  portrait  of  President  Lincoln  you 
will  please  let  me  know  or  Mr.  Jere.  Abbott.  My  price  for 
it  is  $800.  I  should  like  the  privilege  of  taking  it  to  Eng- 
land with  me,  and  will  return  it  to  you  in  a  few  months  in 
case  you  desire  it. 

Yours  truly, 

Wm.    M.    Hunt, 

16  Summer  St. 
In  care  of  Abbott  &  Howard,  Kilby  St.,  Boston. 

There  was  at  the  time  I  refer  to,  1865-1866 
(It  was  on  the  list  at  the  sale.),  a  beautiful  land- 
scape of  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau  I  ought  to 
have  bought,  but  did  not.  I  once  had  in  my 
collection  of  paintings  one  which  had  belonged 
to  my  brother,  T.  G.  A.,  a  small  picture,  with  a 
church  in  the  background,  and  in  the  foreground 
several  sheaves  of  wheat,  and  peasants  returning 
to  their  houses  from  the  field,  with  the  light  of  a 
setting  sun.  It  had  the  touch  and  the  glow  of 
the  master, 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  43 

CHAPTER  S?:COND 

Lincoln  and  Emancipation 

abraham   lincoln 

"AU  merit  comes 

From  braving  the  unequal : 
All  glory  comes  from  daring  to  begin : 

Fame  loves  the  state 

That,  reckless  of  the  sequel. 
Fights  long  and  well,  whether  it  lose  or  win." 
—  Eugene  F.  Ware 

I  have  always  regretted  that  I  never  had  the 
privilege  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  President 
Lincoln.  I  remember  having  met  him  one  summer 
at  Washington  during  the  war,  as  he  was  driving 
to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  —  a  few  miles  out  of  the 
city  where  he  passed  the  hot  season,  —  in  an  open 
carriage  with  an  escort  of  cavalry,  which  was  a  rare 
sight  for  a  President  of  the  United  States,  until  the 
requirements  of  war  and  the  treasonable  elements 
which  pervaded  society  m  Washington  seemed  to 
make  such  a  precaution  advisable.  This  was  civil 
war  with  its  unseen  dangers  in  the  nation's  capital. 
I  can  just  remember  his  sad  face,  which  appeared 
full  of  the  responsibilities  of  the  situation,  as  he 
drove  along. 

Lincoln  and  Emancipation, 

The  antislavery  movement  in  the  United  States, 
began  in  the  mountains  of  the  South  by  Benjamin 
Lundy,  of  Wheeling,  West  Virginia.  He  pub- 
Ushed  a  paper  called  "The  Genius  of  Universal 


44  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Emancipation,"  first  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio, 
afterwards  at  Jonesville,  East  Tennessee,  and  m 
1824,  he  removed  it  to  Baltimore,  Md. 

In  1825,  Miss  Frances  Wright,  a  youthful  and 
enthusiastic  philanthropist,  established  ten  miles 
east  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  a  manual  training  school, 
in  which  each  negro  was  to  be  freed  as  soon  as  he 
proved  himself  capable  of  self  support.  She  was  a 
friend  of  Lafayette,  who  was  keenly  interested  in 
the  plan,  but  it  failed,  and  she  took  her  slaves  to 
Hayti,  where  she  settled  them  on  land  granted  by 
the  Haitian  government,  freed  them,  and  left  them 
there. 

All  this  was  before  the  organization  of  the  New 
England  Antislavery  Society,  which  was  formed  in 
1832,  by  WilUam  Lloyd  Garrison,  returning  from 
Baltimore  where  he  had  been  associated  with 
Lundy. 

On  December  6,  1847,  Abraham  Lincoln  took  his 
seat  in  the  Tnirtieth  Congress  as  a  member  from  the 
state  of  Illinois.  He  was  thirty -eight  years  of  age, 
and  six  feet  four  inches  in  height.  His  character 
and  principles  are  thus  briefly  and  truthfully 
described  by  J.  G.  Holland,  in  reviewing  his  public 
career: — 

"He  introduced  them  to  a  new  national  Hfe.  He 
has  given  them  a  statesman  without  a  statesman's 
craftiness,  a  politician  without  a  politician's  mean- 
nesses, a  great  man  without  a  great  man's  vices,  a 
philanthropist  without  a  philanthropist's  imprac- 
ticable dreams,  a  Christian  without  pretensions, 
a  ruler  without  the  pride  of  place  and  power,  an 
ambitious  man  without  selfishness,  and  a  suc- 
cessful man  without  vanity. " 

His  position  in  the  Thirtieth  Congress  on  all  the 
principal  points  at  issue  were  of  the  Whig  party, 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  45 

and  in  the  second  session  he  began  his  work  for  the 
aboUshment  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
in  which  the  national  capital  is  situated,  by  intro- 
ducing on  the  16th  of  January,  1849,  a  measure 
which  he  intended  as  a  substitute  for  a  resolution 
introduced  by  Mr.  Gott  of  New  York,  instructing 
the  Committee  of  the  District  of  Columbia  to  report 
a  bill  prohibiting  the  slave  trade  in  the  District. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  substitute  provided  that  no  person 
not  within  the  District,  and  no  person  thereafter 
born  within  the  District  should  be  held  to  slavery 
within  the  District,  or  held  to  slavery  without  its 
limits,  while  it  provided  that  those  holding  slaves 
in  the  slave  states  might  bring  them  in  and  take 
them  out  again  when  visiting  the  District  on  public 
business.  It  also  provided  for  the  emancipation  of 
all  the  slaves  legally  held  within  the  District,  at 
the  will  of  their  masters,  who  could  claim  their  full 
value  at  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  that 
the  act  itself  should  be  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  voters  of  the  District.  It  had  also  a  proviso 
to  restore  to  their  owners  all  fugitive  slaves  escaping 
into  the  District. 

Mr.  Lincoln  regarded  slavery  as  property  under 
the  Constitution.  Legally  he  believed  slavery  to 
be  right,  morally  he  believed  it  to  be  wrong. 

On  the  presentation  of  this  bill  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
a  considerable  number  of  influential  supporters  in 
the  District,  but  they  subsequently  withdrew,  and 
the  subject  was  given  up,  to  be  revived  again,  under 
circumstances  impossible  to  be  foretold,  thirteen 
years  after. 

Speaking  in  1859,  on  the  slave  power,  he  said:  — 
"Broken  by  it,  I,  too,  may  be,  bow  to  it  I  never 
will.  The  probability  that  we  may  fail  in  the 
struggle,  ought  not  to  deter  us  from  the  support  of 


46  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

a  cause  which  I  deem  to  be  just,  and  it  shall  not 
deter  me.  If  ever  I  feel  the  soul  within  me  elevate 
and  expand  to  those  dimensions  not  wholly 
unworthy  of  its  Almighty  Architect,  it  is  when  I 
contemplate  the  cause  of  my  country,  deserted  by 
all  the  world  besides,  and  I,  standing  up  boldly  and 
alone,  and  hurling  defiance  at  her  victorious  oppres- 
sors. Here,  without  contemplating  consequences, 
before  high  Heaven,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world,  I 
swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause,  as  I  deem  it, 
of  the  land  of  my  life,  my  liberty,  and  my  love.  " 

On  March  4th,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  several  of  the 
slaveholding  states  rebelled  against  the  authority 
of  the  National  Government,  passed  ordinances  of 
secession,  and  with  other  states  joined  to  them 
attempted  to  gain  possession  of  the  national  capital, 
thereby  bringing  on  the  great  war  of  1861,  which 
lasted  four  years,  and  ended  in  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  national 
authority  over  every  state  and  territory. 

In  the  effort  to  reclaim  the  recalcitrant  states 
and  restore  peace  to  the  country,  every  expedient 
was  used,  and  when,  by  proclamation  of  President 
Lincoln,  Congress  assembled  in  extra  session  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1861,  Mr.  Trumbull  of  Ilhnois 
introduced  a  bill  in  the  Senate  to  emancipate  all 
the  slaves  in  the  rebel  states. 

At  that  time  one-eighth  of  the  whole  population 
of  the  United  States  were  colored  slaves,  located  in 
the  southern  portion.  They  had  been  held  in 
slavery  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  having  origin- 
ally, and  as  required  thereafter,  been  brought  to 
this  country  in  slave  ships  principally  from  the 
coast  of  Africa  and  the  brisk  and  remunerative 
traffic  still  continued.     The  extra  session  closed  on 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  47 

August  6,  1861,  having  lasted  but  little  more  than 
a  month.  In  the  meantime  Major  General  John 
C.  Fremont  having  been  placed  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  West,  with  headquarters  at  St. 
Louis,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1861,  contemplating  the 
restoration  of  order  in  Missouri,  and  the  reclaiming 
of  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  River,  proclaimed 
martial  law,  declared  the  property  of  all  those  who 
should  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States 
confiscated  to  the  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if 
they  had  any,  were  declared  free  men.  In  other 
words,  he  proclaimed  freedom  to  the  slaves  of 
rebels,  but,  fearing  that  this  would  alarm  Unionists 
in  the  South,  Mr.  Lincoln  desired  General  Fremont, 
as  of  his  own  motion,  so  to  modify  his  proclamation 
as  to  make  this  freedom  apply  only  to  such  slaves 
as  were  engaged  in  the  rebel  service. 

General  Fremont  had  taken  this  step  without 
consultation  or  notice.  The  President  wished  him 
to  conform  to  a  confiscation  act  passed  by  Congress, 
but  Fremont  wished  the  President  to  order  the 
change  desired,  as,  if  he  should  do  it  of  his  own 
motion,  it  would  imply  that  he  thought  himself 
wrong,  stating  the  difficulties  under  which  he 
labored,  with  the  communication  with  the  govern- 
ment so  difficult  and  the  development  of  perplexing 
events  so  rapid  in  the  department  under  his  com- 
mand. This  the  President  did  in  a  despatch  under 
date  of  September  11,  1861,  in  these  words:  — 

"  It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  the  said  clause  of  said  proc- 
lamation be  so  modified,  held  and  construed,  as  to  con- 
form to,  and  not  to  transcend  the  provisions  on  the  same 
subject  contained  in  the  Act  of  Congress  entitled  'An  Act 

to    Confiscate    Property' approved    August    6, 

1861,  and  that  such  act  be  published  at  length  with  this 
order. " 


48  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Before  this  order  had  been  received,  or  on  the 
day  following  its  date,  General  Fremont,  though 
acquainted  with  the  President's  wishes,  manu- 
mitted two  slaves  of  Thomas  L.  Snead  of  St.  Louis, 
in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  his  proclamation. 

Lincoln  believed  that  the  time  had  not  come  for 
the  Hberating  the  slaves  of  rebels  by  proclamation, 
if  he  had,  the  Act  of  Congress  would  not  have  stood 
in  the  way.  The  Act  was  the  embodiment  of  his 
own  policy  at  that  time.  He  had  undertaken  to 
preserve  the  Union  and  the  rights  of  all  the  states. 
A  record  was  to  be  kept  of  the  slaves  of  loyal 
masters,  and  for  their  repayment  for  them  Congress 
would  provide.  Slavery  could  only  be  interfered 
with  as  a  military  necessity,  an  essential  means  of 
saving  the  Union.  He  was  assailed  on  the  one  side 
for  being  too  slow,  and  on  the  other  for  being  too 
precipitate. 

In  March,  1862,  the  following  resolution  recom- 
mended by  President  Lincoln  passed  both  houses 
of  Congress,  only  a  few  members  of  the  border 
states  voting  for  it:  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate 
with  any  state  which  may  gradually  adopt  abolishment 
of  slavery,  giving  to  such  state  pecuniar}'  aid,  to  be  used 
by  such  state  in  its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  incon- 
veniences, public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change 
of  system.  " 

Before  the  close  of  the  session  the  President 
invited  the  senators  and  representatives  of  the 
slaveholding  states  not  in  rebellion,  to  a  conference 
at  the  White  House,  at  which  he  admonished  them 
that  if  they  had  all  voted  for  the  resolution  the  war 
would  then  have  been  substantially  ended. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  49 

"If  the  war,  "  said  he,  "continues  long,  as  it  must 
if  the  object  be  not  sooner  attained  (i.  e.  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Union  without  disturbance  of  the 
institution  of  slavery)  the  institution  in  your  states 
will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion 
—  by  the  mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be 
gone,  and  you  will  have  nothing  in  lieu  of  it. 
Much  of  its  value  is  gone  already.  How  much 
better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take  the  step 
which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  sub- 
stantial compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be 

wholly  lost  in  any  other  event I   do  not 

speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at 
once,  to  emancipate  gradualh'.  Room  in  South 
America  for  colonization  can  be  obtained  cheaply, 
and  in  abundance,  and  when  numbers  shall  be  large 
enough  to  be  company  and  encouragement  for  one 
another,  the  freed  people  will  not  be  so  reluctant 
to  go." 

The  time  for  the  voluntary  abolishment  of  the 
slave  system  was  at  any  date  previous  to  1900. 

In  this  session  slavery  was  abolished  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  completing  the  work  begun 
in  1849,  and  recognizing  the  two  principles  of 
colonization  and  compensation.  This  session  also 
passed  the  confiscation  act  by  which  the  traitor  to 
the  general  government  forfeited  his  slaves,  as  well 
as  any  other  property,  and  Congress  decided  in 
advance,  that  the  slaves  thus  confiscated  and  held 
by  the  government  should  be  declared  free. 

Then  the  public  at  the  north,  these  measures 
having  been  enacted,  demanded  a  sweeping  proc- 
lamation of  emancipation.  The  anti-slaver\'  ele- 
ment clamored  for  swifter  and  more  radical  recogni- 
tion, aroused  and  sustained  by  the  eloquence  of 
the  spoken  and  written  word. 


50  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

These    were    the    clarion    notes    of    Whittier's 
' '  Voices  of  Freedom  " :  — 

"If  we  have  whispered  truth 
Whisper  no  longer: 
Speak  as  the  tempest  does, 
Sterner  and  stronger. 


Still  be  the  tones  of  truth 

Louder  and  firmer: 
Startling  the  haughty  South 

With  the  deep  murmur. " 

To  which  the  President  made  reply:  — 
"What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race, 
I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union, 
and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not 
believe  it  could  help  to  save  the  Union  ....  I 
intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  per- 
sonal wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free. " 
He  understood  that  his  oath  of  office  stood  in  the 
way  of  the  present  accomplishment  of  that  wish, 
but  that  for  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union  measures  otherwise  unconstitu- 
tional might  become  lawful.  That  to  preserve 
slavery  he  could  not  permit  the  wreck  of  govern- 
ment, country  and  constitution  all  together.  He 
objected  to  General  Fremont's  order  of  emancipa- 
tion because  he  did  not  then  consider  it  a  necessity- 
He  objected  to  the  arming  of  the  blacks,  as  sug- 
gested by  the  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron, 
for  the  same  reason ;  also  to  an  attempt  by  General 
David  A.  Hunter  for  a  military  emancipation, 
believing  as  he  did  in  compensated  emancipation. 
But  the  border  states,  toward  whom  he  had  ful- 
filled his  whole  duty,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his 
expostulations,  and  by  this  attitude  relieved  him  of 
further  responsibility  toward  them. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  />1 

Colonization. 

Congress  placed  at  the  President's  disposal  a  sum 
of  money  to  be  used  for  experiments  with  the 
colonization  of  the  blacks,  his  choice  of  location 
being  the  Spanish  American  republics  of  Central 
and  South  America.  In  August,  1862,  he  invited 
a  representative  company  of  negroes  to  visit  the 
White  House  and  address  him  on  the  subject;  the 
President  asserting  his  conviction  that  both  the 
whites  and  negroes  would  suffer  by  living  in  associa- 
tion with  each  other.  He  offered  them  the  benefit 
of  the  fund  intrusted  to  him  for  the  purposes  of 
colonization.  But  the  Spanish  American  republics 
protested  against  black  colonies  in  their  midst. 
Liberia  and  Hayti  only  would  receive  them,  and 
the  blacks  were  not  disposed  to  emigrate  to  those 
countries,  and  so  that  project  faded  as  all  such 
projects  have  failed  in  relation  to  sending  the 
colored  population  out  of  the  country.  The  Pres- 
ident's plan  was  one  of  benevolent  solicitude  for  a 
race  which  he  hoped  to  make  self-reliant  and 
independent. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  the  midsummer  of 
1862,  President  Lincoln  called  a  meeting  of  his 
Cabinet  and  laid  before  them  a  draft  of  a  proclama- 
tion of  emancipation,  which  involved  the  freedom 
of  all  human  beings  held  in  slavery  in  the  United 
States,  amounting  to  four  millions  then  living,  and 
affecting  untold  millions  then  unborn,  and  revolu- 
tionizing the  social  status  of  more  than  a  third  part 
of  the  nation,  but  the  Secretary  of  State,  William 
H.  Seward,  while  approving  of  the  proclamation, 
opposed  its  issue  at  that  time,  immediately  after  so 
many  reverses,  and  advised  its  postponement  until 
it  should  have  some  military  success  to  support  it, 


52  RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

that  it  should  not  have  the  appearance  of  an  appeal 
for  help.  So  the  proclamation  waited  until  the 
invasion  of  Maryland  brought  on  the  battle  of 
Antietam  resulting  in  the  victory  won  by  McClel- 
lan,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  brought  forward  his  second 
draft  of  the  instrument,  —  even  then  a  preliminary 
proclamation,  — -  which  was  issued  on  the  22d  of 
September,  1862,  the  battle  having  been  fought  on 
the  17th;  Mr.  Lincoln  being  reported  as  saying  that 
he  made  a  resolve  that  when  McClellan  should  drive 
Lee  over  the  river  he  would  send  the  proclamation 
after  him. 

This  proclamation  declared  free  the  slaves  of 
those  states,  and  those  sections  of  states,  which 
should  be  in  rebellion  on  the  1st  of  January,  1863, 
thus  affording  an  opportunity  for  all  rebel  states 
which  wished  to  preserve  their  ownership  of  slaves, 
to  do  so  by  returning  to  their  allegiance  to  the 
Federal  Government. 

September  24,  1862,  the  President  issued  a  proc- 
lamation suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  as 
the  ordinary  processes  of  law  were  not  sufhcient  to 
restrain  disloyal  persons  from  hindering  the  execu- 
tion of  a  draft  of  militia,  which  had  been  ordered, 
and  from  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  insurrection. 
This  suspension  lasted  for  two  months,  or  until  the 
22d  of  November,  1862,  and  persons  held  in  military 
custody  were  released  on  parole. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  the  final  proclama- 
tion of  emancipation  was  issued.  It  was  as 
follows :  — 

Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-second  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the 


RUSSIAiY    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  53 

United  States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  follow- 
ing, to  wit: 

"That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  state,  or  designated  part 
of  a  state,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward 
and  forever  free,  and  the  executive  government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such 
persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons, 
or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their 
actual  freedom.  That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day 
of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the 
states  and"  parts  of  states,  if  any,  in  which  the  people 
thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States;  and  the  fact  that  any  state  or  the  people 
thereof  sliall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen 
thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  state  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed 
conclusive  evidence  that  such  state,  and  the  people  thereof, 
are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States.  " 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United 
States  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  author- 
ity and  government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and 
necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do, 
on  this  first  dav  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance 
with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full 
period  "of  one  hundred  days  fro"m  the  day  first  above 
mentioned,  order  and  designate,  as  the  states  and  parts  of 
states  wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively  are  this  day 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,   the  following,  to 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemine,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St. 
James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne.  Lafourche, 
St.  Marie,  St.  Martin  and  Orieans,  including  the  city  of 
New  Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  (except  the 
fortv-eight  counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also 


54  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

the  counties  of  Berkely,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Ehza- 
beth  City,  York.  Princess  Anne,  and  Norfolk,  including 
the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,  and  which  excepted 
parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclama- 
tion were  not  issued). 

And,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  afore- 
said, I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  said  designated  states  and  parts  of  states,  are, 
and  henceforward  shall  be  free,  and  that  the  Executive 
Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military 
and  naval  authorities  thereof,  \\all  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be 
free,  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self- 
defence,  and  I  recommend  to  them  that  in  all  cases,  when 
allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons 
of  suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions, 
stations  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in 
said  service.  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be 
an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon 
military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of 
mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-three  and  of  the 

[l.  s.]  Independence  of  the  United  States  the 
eighty-seventh, 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President. 
William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

In  the  cabinet  meeting  to  which  the  prehminary 
proclamation  was  submitted,  by  request  of  Mr. 
Seward  the  words  "and  maintain"  were  inserted 
after  "recognize"  in  the  third  paragraph  of  that 
document  in  the  second  paragraph  of  the  final 
proclamation,  the  President  in  his  wisdom,  having 
omitted  the  words,  as  it  was  not  his  way  to  promise 
more  than  he  was  sure  he  could  perform,  and  he  was 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  55 

not  prepared  to  say  that  he  thought  he  was  able  to 
maintain  this.  Thus  the  story  is  told  on  the  best 
authority. 

Another  paragraph  is  said  to  have  been  written 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
who  had  prepared  a  proclamation  from  which  the 
President  only  selected  the  sentence  beginning 
"And  upon  this  Act,"  and  ending  with  "Almighty 
God,"  with  the  exception  of  the  word  "sincerely" 
and  the  phrase  "upon  military  necessity"  which 
are  the  President's  own.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln voluntarily  revealed  the  authorship  of  the 
words  attributed  to  Seward  and  Chase. 

Slaves  Still  Held  in  Loyal  States. 

By  this  proclamation  of  emancipation  the  loyal 
slave  states  were  allowed  to  retain  the  institution 
of  slavery,  which  was  secured  to  them  by  the  Con- 
stitution, and  in  order  to  reach  them  certain  articles 
of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  must  be  acted  upon  by  the  legislatures  of 
the  several  states,  three-fourths  of  the  number  of 
which  would  make  the  articles  valid.  No  servile 
insurrection  or  tendency  to  violence  marked  the 
execution  of  the  provisions  of  the  proclamation 
relative  to  the  arming  of  the  negroes. 

At  the  session  of  Congress  beginning  in  Decem- 
ber, 1863,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  repealed. 

At  the  national  Republican  convention  which 
met  at  Baltimore,  June  8,  1864,  and  nominated 
Lincoln  for  re-election,  one  of  the  resolutions 
advocated  a  constitutional  amendment  abolishing 
slavery.  Another  declared  that  the  government 
owed  protection  to  all  its  soldiers,  without  distinc- 
tion of  color,  and  at  the  session  of  congress  which 


56  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

opened  the  following  December,  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  was  passed  abolishing  slavery  in 
all  the  states.  It  needed  now  to  be  adopted  by  the 
vote  of  the  states,  and  the  necessity  was  pressing, 
for  in  order  to  place  in  their  hands  a  weapon  of  self- 
defence  against  re-enslavement  the  negroes  must 
be  given  the  right  to  vote. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Fourteenth  Amendment. 


Article  XIV.  Section  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized 
in  the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof 
are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  state  wherein 
they  reside.  No  state  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law 
which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any  state  deprive  any  person 
of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,  nor 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  pro- 
tection of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  states  according  to  their  respective  numbers, 
counting  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  state, 
excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote 
at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors  for  president 
and  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  representatives 
in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  a  state,  or 
the  members  of  the  legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  state,  being  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
wav  abridged,  except  for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other 
crime,  the  basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced 
in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens 
shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one 
years  of  age  in  such  state. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator,  or  representa- 
tive in  congress,  or  elector  of  president,  or  vice-president, 
or  hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States, 
or  under  any  state,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath, 
as  a  member  of  congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United 
States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  state  legislature,  or  as  an 
executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  state,  to  support   the 


/?t/S5/A:V    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  57 

constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or 
comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  congress  may,  by  a 
vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United 
States,  authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for 
payment  of  pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in  sup- 
pressing insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned. 

But  neither  the  United  States,  nor  any  state,  shall 
assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any 
claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave;  but  all 
such  debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and 
void. 

Section  5.  The  congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce, 
by  appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  proposed  to 
the  legislatures  of  the  several  states  by  the  thirty- 
ninth  congress  on  June  IG,  1866,  and  after  delay 
caused  by  withdrawals  of  ratifications  and  of  rejec- 
tions of  ratifications  by  many  of  the  states,  on  July 
28,  1868,  it  was  announced  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  that  it  had  become  vahd  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Fifteenth  Amendment. 

Article  XV.  Sect.  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
States,  or  by  any  state,  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition  of  servitude. 

Section  2.  The  congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce 
this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

The  fifteenth  amendment  was  proposed  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states  by  the  fortieth 
Congress  on  February  27,  1869,  and  was  declared, 


58  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

in  a  proclamation  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  dated 
March  30,  1870,  to  have  been  ratified  by  the  con- 
stitutional number  of  states,  and  to  have  "become 
valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  part  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

After  Emancipation. 

The  history  of  the  war  shows  that  one  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
seventy-five  negroes,  took  part  either  in  the  army 
or  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  the  losses  these 
troops  sustained  from  sickness,  wounds,  killed  in 
battle  and  other  casualties  incident  to  war,  were 
sixty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight. 

The  war  was  over  in  the  spring  of  1865.  Then 
came  the  reconstruction  period,  and  in  1876,  the 
Democratic  party,  most  influential  in  the  Southern 
States,  unqualifiedly  accepted  in  its  national  plat- 
form all  the  results  of  the  war,  including  the  war 
amendments  to  the  Constitution. 

Yet,  while  the  race  progressed  with  marvellous 
rapidity  through  educational  facilities  eagerly 
sought  for,  and  secured  to  them  from  private  and 
public  sources,  the  condition  of  the  freed  slaves  and 
their  descendants  has  not  improved  so  materially  as 
was  anticipated. 

President  Lincoln's  solicitude  has  not  been 
proven  false  or  exaggerated,  "both  the  whites  and 
negroes''  have  suffered  "by  living  in  association 
with  each  other. ' ' 

The  tendency  is  to  divide  the  whites  from  the 
blacks,  the  whites  avoiding  those  sections  where 
the  races  are  placed  on  an  equality  in  labor.  The 
large  plantations  are  being  let  out  to  colored  tenants 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  59 

while  the  landlord  seeks  a  more  congenial  environ- 
ment in  the  cities,  the  poor  whites  seeking  occupa- 
tion in  the  manufacturing  industries  which  have 
arisen  and  are  being  developed. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  number  of  counties  in  the 
South  in  which  the  negroes  outnumber  the  whites, 
counties  containing  the  best  cotton,  tobacco,  rice 
and  sugar  lands,  has  risen  from  237  in  1860,  to  279 
in  1900,  and  that  within  these  counties  there  are,  on 
the  average,  130  negroes  to  every  100  whites,  and 
that  in  1860,  there  were  71  counties  in  which  the 
negroes  were  more  than  twice  as  numerous  as  the 
whites,  which  number  in  1900,  had  increased  to 
108,  and  92  per  cent  of  the  colored  race  is  found  in 
the  states  which  were  in  rebellion  in  1861. 

Notwithstanding  the  investment  with  citizenship 
which  was  supposed  to  remove  from  the  slave  the 
disqualification  of  having  no  standing  in  court, 
from  the  time  of  emancipation  to  the  present,  negro 
lynchings  in  the  southern  and  western  portions  of 
the  United  States  have  shocked  the  civilized  world 
by  their  frequency  and  cruelty;  victims  of  both 
sexes  having  been  burnt  at  the  stake  without  any 
pretense  of  a  form  of  trial,  while  local  juries  were 
unwilling  to  indict  or  condemn  those  who  thus  trans- 
gressed constitutional  law. 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment  has  been  virtually 
annulled,  and  the  white  vote  is  apportioned  on  a 
fictitious  representation,  and  based  upon  a  black 
m.ajority. 

Measures,  more  or  less  disguised  as  to  their  pur- 
pose, have  been  passed  by  several  southern  states, 
tending  to  disfranchise  the  negroes,  showing  an 
inclination  to  gradually  return  to  former  conditions, 
until  they  have  once  more  assumed  their  original 
bold  attitude,   and  in  the  Fiftv-eighth  Congress, 


60  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

which  assembled  December  7,  1903,  notice  was 
given  that  the  United  States  Senator  from  Tennes- 
see would  introduce  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Amendment,  "with  a  view  to  a  permanent 
solution  of  the  vexing  negro  question,  by  eliminat- 
ing the  enfranchised  negro  as  a  political  factor." 
It  was  said  that  the  Senator  would  be  supported  by 
every  Southern  member  in  Congress,  and  not  a  few 
members  of  other  sections  of  the  Union.  An  ex- 
governor  of  Virginia  was  quoted  as  saying  in  New 
York,  that  there  is  only  one  solution,  and  that  is 
that  the  Nation  must  recede  from  its  position  on 
negro  suffrage,  and  plans  to  that  effect  have  been 
announced  in  several  southern  states. 

An  Appeal  to  the  Country. 

On  their  own  behalf,  in  a  mass  meeting  held  in 
Boston,  November  7,  1903,  forty  years  after  Eman- 
cipation, and  three  years  after  the  outside  limit  of 
time,  1900,  set  in  the  resolution  recommending  the 
co-operation  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the 
gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  with  compensation, 
passed  in  March,  1862,  the  following  appeal,  involv- 
ing the  rights  of  10,000,000  colored  people  of  the 
United  States,  was  addressed  to  the  country  by  the 
Boston  Negro  Suffrage  League: — 

"We  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the  country  to  rally  to 
our  help,  to  restore  to  us  rights  bought  by  us  with  a  great 
price,  the  price  of  nearly  three  centuries  of  faithful  service 
and  of  blood  shed  by  us  in  four  wars.  We  appeal  to  the 
American  people  in  their  strength,  to  have  regard  for  us 
in  our  weakness,  and  to  grant  us  fair  play  and  equal 
opportunities  with  others,  to  make  the  most  and  the  best 
of  ourselves  in  their  midst.  We  call  upon  a  Christian 
nation  to  treat  us  as  fellow  Christians,  as  human  beings. 
We  implore  a  boastfully  free  republic  to  save  us  from 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  61 

re-enslavement,  to  mete  out  to  us  even-handed  justice, 
and  to  throw  over  us  everywhere  the  impartial  protection 
of  her  laws  and  Constitution.  " 

Death  of  Lincoln. 

"So  he  grew  up,  a  destined  work  to  do. 

And  lived  to  do  it;  four  long-suffering  years, 
Ill-fate,  ill-feeling,  ill-report,  lived  through. 

And  then  he  heard  the  hisses  changed  to  cheers, 

The  taunts  to  tribvite,  the  abuse  to  praise, 

And  took  both  with  the  same  unwavering  mood : 

Till,  as  he  came  on  light,  from  darkling  days, 

And  seemed  to  touch  the  goal  from  where  he  stood, 

A  felon  hand,  between  the  goal  and  him, 

Reached  from  behind  his  back,  a  trigger  prest  — 

And  those  perplexed  and  patient  eyes  were  dim, 
Those  gaunt,  long-laboring  limbs  were  laid  to  rest. 


The  Old  World  and  the  New,  from  sea  to  sea, 
Utter  one  voice  of  sympathy  and  shame! 

Sore  heart,  so  stopped  when  it  at  last  beat  high, 
Sad  life,  cut  short  just  as  its  triumph  came.  " 

—  London  Punchy  May  6,  1865. 

Re-elected  President  of  the  United  States  for 
another  term  of  four  years,  and  having  seen  the 
termination  of  the  war,  Abraham  Lincoln  died  in 
Washington  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  He  was 
shot  by  J.  Wilkes  Booth,  a  member  of  a  family  of 
actors,  in  a  private  box  of  Ford's  Theatre,  a  few 
minutes  past  ten  o  'clock  on  the  evening  of  April  14, 
1865,  and  was  carried  across  the  street  to  a  private 
house,  516  Tenth  Street,  where  he  died  at  7.22  the 
next  morning  without  recovering  consciousness. 
Reverent  and  devout  by  nature,  his  utterances  had 
often  impressed  the  people  with  a  sense  of  his  own 


62  RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

firm  reliance  on  the  Divine  arm.  "I  have  been 
driven  many  times  to  my  knees,' '  he  once  remarked, 
"by  the  overwhelming  conviction  that  I  had  no- 
where else  to  go.  My  own  wisdom  and  that  of  all 
about  me  seemed  insufficient  for  that  day."  So 
when  the  bewildering  news  of  his  death  burst  upon 
the  world,  that  was  the  characteristic  most  forcibly 
brought  to  mind,  and  "God  lives''  was  the  chosen 
message  flashed  over  the  wires  from  a  high  state 
official  to  quell  the  tumult  of  indignation  which 
thrilled  every  corner  of  the  great  Republic.  At  his 
obsequies  the  funeral  procession  was  so  long  that  the 
head  of  it  had  begun  to  disperse  at  the  Capitol,  be- 
fore the  rear  had  passed  the  Treasurv  Department 
on  its  way  from  the  Executive  Mansion. 

At  the  cemetery  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  he 
was  buried  May  4,  1865,  the  procession  being  under 
the  immediate  charge  of  Major  General  Joseph 
Hooker,  Bishop  Simpson  quoted  his  words  spoken 
in  relation  to  the  slave  power,  in  1859,  beginning 
"Broken  by  it,  I,  too,  may  be,  bow  to  it  I  never 
will.' ' 

Personal  Recollections. 

On  the  evening  of  April  16th,  just  before  sunset, 
when  the  news  of  the  assassination  came  to  our 
camp,  during  an  exhausting  march  from  Appomat- 
tox Court  House  after  Lee's  surrender,  to  guard  the 
railroad  at  Nottaway  C.  H.,  a  courier  rode  up  with 
a  despatch  for  General  Charles  S.  Wainwright  of 
whose  staff  I  was  a  member,  announcing  the  event 
in  a  few  words. 

The  effect  upon  us  was  tremendous,  we  could  not 
believe  that  it  was  true,  and  I  thought  at  the  time 
that  it  must  lead  to  some  uprising  or  revolution.  It 
was  a  shock  to  both  soldiers  and  citizens  that  thev 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  (33 

could  hardly  realize.  But  his  work  was  done,  his 
life  was  complete,  and  he  was  allowed  to  die  in  all 
the  glory  and  dignity  of  an  unselfish  triumph. 

In  a  building  corner  of  Broadway  and  10th  Street, 
New  York,  between  what  was  then  Stewart's  great 
dry  goods  establishment  and  Grace  Church,  I  had 
from  1874  to  1879,  a  little  den.  It  looked,  like  all 
my  rooms,  very  cozy,  with  a  medley  of  boyish, 
college,  and  army  trophies  hanging  about,  and  end- 
less souvenirs  of  travel  and  previous  years  expe- 
rience on  the  walls,  and  in  graceful  confusion. 
Many  of  my  old  half  discarded  things  had  fallen 
into  place,  and  I  wrote  under  the  light  of  a  Russian 
double  candlestick  with  a  soft  green  shade,  while 
my  gas  was  being  put  in  order.  My  old  army 
toggery  I  had  arranged  in  a  trophy — sword,  belt, 
sash,  cap,  pistol,  spurs,  blouse  of  Second  Lieu- 
tenant of  Artillery  (Fifth  Massachusetts  Battery, 
Light  Artillery)  with  the  holes  through  the  right 
sleeve  and  the  blood  on  the  lining,  corps  and  other 
military  badges,  etc.,  and  as  a  background  the 
American  fiag,  in  silk,  given  me  by  some  dear 
friends  with  whom  I  often  stayed  at  Weston, 
Mass.,  and  which  I  carried  with  me  in  the  army, 
and  had  suspended  in  my  winter  quarters  on  the 
Rappahannock  River,  Va.,  1863-'4.  As  I  now 
look  at  them  I  can  see  on  my  sword  knot  the  very 
same  crape  which  was  twisted  round  it  by  my 
servant  "Joe,"  when  all  the  army  went  into  mourn- 
ing for  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  is  to 
me  a  precious  relic,  and  one  such  as  I  imagine 
there  are  few  preserved. 

In  April,  1879,  I  wrote  what  follows  in  a  letter 
to  the  Boston  Transcript: — 

"The  writer  paid  a  visit  yesterday  to  that 
remarkable  picture  now  on  exhibition  at  Doll  and 


64  RUSSIAN   LIFE    AND    SOCIETY 

Richards',  2  Park  Street,  (Boston)  by  Albion  H. 
Bicknell,  representing  President  Lincoln  at  the 
dedication  of  the  cemetery  at  Gettysburg.  Oh, 
that  word!  What  a  story  does  it  tell!  It  was 
the  central  turning  point  of  the  war,  just  as  Bull 
Run  was  the  beginning,  and  Appomattox  the  end. 

As  you  look  at  that  wonderful  painting,  and 
gaze  at  the  different  men  there — men  who  were 
towers  of  strength  for  the  Union, — you  find,  as 
you  count  them  off  one  by  one,  that  more  than 
two-thirds  of  those  who  were  there  that  bright 
autumn  afternoon,  November  19,  1863,  have  ere 
this  passed  on, — Seward,  Andrew,  Everett,  Meade, 
Chase,  Wilson,  Stanton,  Morton,  Greeley,  Sumner, 
Welles,  Johnson,  Hamlin,  Fessenden, — are  with 
us  no  more. 

The  landscape,  with  the  trees  and  the  sky  and 
the  flavor  of  autumn  in  the  air,  is  admirable. 
The  grouping  is  simple,  natural  and  effective,  and 
the  likenesses  of  the  different  persons  are  remark- 
able. There  they  are,  honest  and  earnest  Amer- 
ican citizens,  in  the  prosaic  dress  of  the  day, — 
real,  not  ideal, — some  few  of  them  in  uniform, 
but  a  majority  in  the  habiliments  of  civil  life.  You 
can  almost  catch  the  serious  words  of  President 
Lincoln,  just  as  he  delivered  them  in  that  terse 
speech  which  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  his  mas- 
terpiece of  oratory.' ' 

Statue  at  Springfield,  III. — 

Grant's  Longest  Speech. 

Early  in  the  year  1874,  a  bronze  statue  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  placed  over  his  grave  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois.     It  was  unveiled  with  appropriate 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  65 

ceremonies  and  in  the  presence  of  over  25,000  people. 
Prayer  was  offered  by  Bishop  Wayman  of  the 
(colored)  Methodist  Church,  and  an  oration  was 
deUvered  by  Senator  Oglesby  of  Illinois.  President 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  Vice  President  Henry  Wilson, 
ex-Vice  President  Schuyler  Colfax  and  General 
William  T.  Sherman  were  present,  and  all  made 
brief  addresses,  that  of  General  Grant  said  to  be  the 
longest  speech  he  ever  delivered.  It  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  On  an  occasion 
like  the  present,  it  is  a  duty  on  my  part  to  bear  testimony 
to  the  great  and  good  qualities  of  the  patriotic  man  whose 
earthly  remains  now  rest  beneath  the  dedicated  monument. 
It  was  not  my  fortune  to  make  the  personal  acquaintance 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  till  the  beginning  of  the  last  year  of  the 
great  struggle  for  national  existence.  During  those  years 
of  trouble  and  despondency,  amongst  the  many  patriotic 
men  of  the  country,  Abraham  Lincoln  never  for  a  moment 
doubted  that  the  final  result  would  be  in  favor  of  peace, 
union,  and  freedom  to  every  race  in  this  broad  land.  His 
faith  in  an  all-wise  Providence  directing  our  arms  to  this 
final  result,  was  the  faith  of  the  Christian  that  his  Re- 
deemer liveth.  Amid  obloquy,  personal  abuse  and  hate 
undisguised,  which  were  given  vent  to  without  restraint 
through  the  press,  upon  the  stump,  and  in  private  circles, 
he  remained  the  same  staunch,  unyielding  servant  of  the 
people,  never  exhibiting  revengeful  feelings  towards  his 
traducers,  he,  rather,  pitied  them,  and  hoped  for  their  own 
sakes,  and  the  good  name  of  their  posterity,  they  might 
desist.  It  did  not  occur  to  him  for  a  single  moment  that 
the  man  Lincoln  was  being  assailed,  but  that  a  treasonable 
spirit,  one  waiting  to  destroy  the  fairest  government  the 
sun  ever  shone  upon,  was  giving  vent  to  itself  on  him,  as 
the  chief  executive  of  the  nation,  only  because  he  was  stich 
executive.  As  a  lawyer  in  yovir  midst,  he  would  have 
avoided  all  that  slander,  for  his  life  was  a  pure  and  simple 
one,  and  no  doubt  he  would  have  been  a  much  happier 
man;  but  who  can  tell  what  might  have  been  the  fate  of 
the  nation  but  for  the  pure,  unselfish,  and  wise  administra- 
tion of  Lincoln  ? 


66  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

From  March,  1864,  to  the  day  when  the  hand  of  an 
assassin  opened  the  grave  for  Mr.  Lincohi  when  President 
of  the  United  States,  my  personal  relations  with  him  were 
as  close  as  the  nature  of  our  respective  duties  would  per- 
mit. To  know  him  personally  was  to  love  and  respect  him 
for  his  great  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  and  for  his 
patience  and  patriotism. 

With  all  his  disappointments  from  failures  on  the  part 
of  those  to  whom  he  intrusted  command,  and  treachery  on 
the  part  of  those  who  had  gained  his  confidence  but  to 
betray  it,  I  never  heard  him  utter  a  complaint,  nor  cast 
censure  for  bad  conduct  or  bad  faith.  It  was  his  nature 
to  find  excuses  for  his  adversaries.  In  his  death  the  nation 
lost  its  greatest  head.  In  his  death  the  South  lost  its  most 
just  friend. " 

Lincoln  said  to  Grant,  when  as  Lieutenant  Gen- 
eral he  placed  him  in  charge  of  all  the  Armies: — 

"The  particulars  of  your  plans  I  neither  know,  nor  seek 
to  know.  You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant;  and,  pleased 
with  this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude  any  restraints  nor  con- 
straints upon   you.  " 


Boston  is  fortunate  in  having  in  Park  Square  the 
emancipation  group  by  Thomas  Ball,  of  Lincoln 
breaking  the  fetters  of  a  negro  slave,  the  gift  of 
Hon.  Moses  Kimball  to  the  city. 

In  Chicago,  October  1,  1893,  during  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  I  went  to  see  the  statue  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  by  Saint  Gaudens  in  Lincoln 
Park.  It  is  splendid  in  every  way,  one  of  the  finest 
certainly  in  the  country  and  perhaps  in  the  world, 
and  in  1903,  a  bronze  statue  of  Lincoln,  cast  in 
heroic  mould  with  uplifted  arm,  was  erected  on  a 
hill  in  a  town  in  Illinois  from  which  point  it  may  be 
seen  for  twenty  miles  in  every  direction. 

The  theatre  building  where  he  was  shot  was  never 
afterwards  used  for  entertainments,  but  for  many 


RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY  07 

years  contained  a  collection  of  curios  from  the  bat- 
tle fields,  which  was  subsequently  removed  to  the 
National  Museum,  and  it  has  since  been  attached  to 
the  War  Department  as  an  office  building  for  a 
bureau. 

August  5,  1901,  I  visited  the  house  where  he 
died,  now  containing  the  Oldroyd  Lincoln  Memorial 
Collection,  consisting  of  over  3000  articles  pertain- 
ing to  the  martyred  President. 


68  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  THIRD. 

BRUSSELS.       THANKSGIVING  IN  BERLIN.       WILNA. 

"This  is  the  place.     Stand  still,  my  steed, 
Let  me  review  the  scene. 
And  summon  from  the  shadowy  Past 
The  forms  that  once  have  been." 

—  Henry  W.  Longfellow. 
"A  Gleam  of  Sunshine,"  edition  of  1864. 

Letter  to  My  Mother. 

Berlin,  Nov.  29,  1866, 
Or,  in  other  words,  Thanksgiving  Day. 

I  happen  to  be  aware  of  this  fact,  Mama,  because 
yesterday,  strolling  about  the  Berlin  gallery  we  met 
first  Mr.'^Urbino  (Dealer  in  choice  foreign  books  in 
Boston)  and  afterwards  Mr.  Kellogg,  (My  brother 
Willie's  travelling  friend)  the  latter  of  whom  told 
us  that  all  the  Americans  were  to  have  a  big  Thanks- 
giving dinner  at  some  hotel  here,  and  so  we  also  put 
our  names  down,  and  mean  to  do  "the  eminent 
American. " 

Almost  twelve  and  not  breakfasted  as  yet!  How 
lazy  one  does  get,  and  we  have  tickets  to  see  the 
Schloss  at  twelve,  precisely. 

Well  then,  to  begin,  —  We  really  left  Paris  on 
Saturday,  arriving  at  Brussels  in  time  to  take  a  cup 
of  tea,  a  chicken  cold,  and  retire,  and  you  have  no 
idea  how  nice  it  is  again  to  be  on  the  move ! 

Sunday,  a  drizzly  day,  we  drove  all  the  way  out 
to  Waterloo  amidst  the'  hoots  of  the  "rag,  tag  and 
bobtail"    of    the    villages    taking    us    for    British 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  69 

tourists.  We  scanned  the  scene  of  conflict  with 
miUtary  gaze,  bought  a  cane  and  a  lunch,  chaffed 
the  natives,  and  returned  in  time  to  see  Dejazet 
the  celebrated  old  actress  perform  in  a  charming 
little  piece.  Monday  we  strolled  about  the  town, 
looked  at  a  few  pictures,  flattened  our  noses  on  the 
shop  windows,  very  pretty  they  are,  too,  that  is, 
the  things  within,  and  would  find  ourselves  sud- 
denly bringing  up  at  some  grand  old  cathedral,  or  a 
fascinating  marketplace,  with  statues  to  old"swells'' 
whose  heads  had  been  discontinued  there;  gilt- 
edged  houses  in  which  the  ancient  guilds  and  clubs 
held  forth,  crooked  streets,  high  hills,  etc.  etc. 

That  evening  after  dinner  we  billeted  ourselves 
for  Berlin  via  Cologne,  and  I  soon  had  an  excellent 
opportunity  of  airing  my  execrable  German,  and 
thanking  myself  for  the  little  I  possess. 

Well,  here  we  are  in  Berlin,  the  city  of  music  and 
philosophy,  and  here  is  Charlie,  —  by  the  way,  the 
best  travelling  companion  imaginable,  —  ready  to 
descend  for  breakfast. 

P.  M.  I  am  now  in  my  evening  harness  with 
just  time  to  finish  this  before  going  to  dine.  Yes- 
terday we  went  to  the  Gallery,  which  I  liked 
exceedingly,  although  there  are  only  a  few  real 
masterpieces,  many  of  which  I  knew  well  from  your 
book  "The  Berlin  Gallery,  "  at  home.  The  Murillo 
is  perhaps  the  finest.  The  building  itself  is  charm- 
ingly arranged,  all  the  different  schools  in  order, 
and  the  temperature  just  right,  which  you  won't 
find  in  the  Italian  galleries.  We  then  sauntered 
along  to  Unter  den  Linden,  and  caused  a  great 
sensation.  Whether  our  reefing  jackets  and  little 
hats  and  blue  scarfs,  or  our  truly  distingue  and 
chic,  —  tell  Willie  the  word  is  still  a  favorite  in 
Paris,  —  appearance  were  the  cause,  I  know  not. 


70  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

I  can  here  say  that  the  Berhners  are  not  exactly 
"swells,"  though  big  on  metaphysics,  and  now  on 
diplomacy  and  war;  certain  it  is,  however,  that 
many  were  the  smiles  bestowed  upon  us  as  we  gaily 
marched  along. 

In  the  evening  we  saw  a  very  good  ballet  at  the 
Victoria  Theatre.  Today  we  have  not  accom- 
plished much  except  the  King's  old  palace,  and  got 
fur  lined  boots,  very  necessary  for  travelling,  and 
filled  our  pockets  with  roubles.  Tomorrow  we  go 
to  see  the  paintings  in  company  with  Mr.  Thies  and 
probably  in  the  evening  start  for  Konigsberg, 
where  I  will  get  you  an  amber  bracelet.  The 
weather  is  quite  mild  now,  but  I  think  after  leaving 
Wilna  it  will  be  fresh  enough.  It  is  rather  an  odd 
city,  this  Berlin,  with  a  feeble  little  stream  called 
the  Spree,  just  under  our  window.  Charlie  sends 
love  to  all.  Good  night,  for  I  go  to  the  feast  of 
Bacchus,  —  roast  turkey  and  plumb  pudding. 

N.  A. 

Professor  Thies,  whom  I  met  in  Berlin,  had  been 
curator  of  the  Gray  Collection  of  Engravings  at 
Harvard  College,  and  showed  to  a  party  of  us  in 
the  second  term  of  my  Junior  year  the  famous 
prints,  collected  by  Francis  Colley  Gray  principally 
abroad,  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  College,  and 
which  were  then  in  one  of  the  alcoves  of  Gore  Hall, 
or  the  Library,  up  stairs.  Our  party  consisted  of 
Professor  Longfellow  and  his  son  Charlie,  George 
B.  Shattuck  and  his  sister,  my  sister  and  myself. 
It  was  a  great  treat  and  gave  me  my  first  real 
knowledge  of  art.  We  examined  all  the  engrav- 
ings, taking  several  weeks,  and  the  remarks  of 
Professor  Thies  were  full  of  knowledge  and  charm. 
It  was  an  education  not  only  in  the  art  of  different 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  71 

kinds  of  engraving,  but  of  painting  and  sculpture, 
as  many  of  them  were  copies  of  the  master-pieces 
of  these  two  branches  of  art.  The  Collection  was 
transferred  to  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  A.rts 
when  it  was  opened,  and  now  forms  a  part  of  the 
Fogg  Museum  at  Harvard. 

Berlin   in    1866. 

In  Berlin,  the  palaces,  houses  and  stores  on  the 
principal  thoroughfares,  stand  before  you  as  dull 
and  unsentimental  looking  as  the  Prussian  sentinels. 
The  people  whom  you  meet,  while  appearing  as 
respectable  and  worthy  as  church  deacons,  have 
no  elegance  nor  grace  about  them,  they  come  and 
go  on  every  side  as  gravely  and  soberly  as  is  per- 
mitted to  human  beings,  with  nothing  disorderly 
or  gay  in  their  manner.  They  impress  you  all  as 
being  in  what  is  called  "comfortable  circum- 
stances," wearing  a  look  of  contented  common- 
placeness,  and  with  the  most  unbounded  respect 
for  things  as  they  are  in  Prussia,  from  the  Kaiser 
down,  and  a  corresponding  ignorance  of  and  pity 
for  the  situation  in  other  less  favored  countries. 
There  is  an  egotistical  patriotism  in  this  which  is 
delicious,  and  which  must  have  its  merits,  but  it 
certainly  makes  its  supporters  more  objects  of  curi- 
osity than  of  interest  to  any  outsiders,  with  whom 
they  may  come  in  contact.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  a  compactness  in  the  forward  march 
of  the  North  Germans  as  a  nation,  which  is  irresisti- 
ble, and  which  is  certain  to  accomplish  great 
results,  and  for  it  the  philosophical  student  of 
history  cannot  but  feel  an  admiration  which  he 
does  not  accord  to  the  more  attractive  and  mer- 
curial inhabitants  of  other  countries.     He  respects 


72  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

intensely  the  Prussians,  but  he  does  not  care  to  Hve 
among  them. 

The  next  morning  after  our  arrival  in  Berlin  we 
sauntered  forth  to  see  all  there  was  in  the  city,  and 
to  provide  ourselves  with  a  complete  outfit  of  furs : 
caps,  coats  and  boots.  The  weather  was  cold  and 
we  would  need  these  protections  for  the  rest  of  our 
jo  rney,  and  we  knew  there  was  no  better  market 
in  Europe  for  obtaining  them  of  good  quality  and 
at  reasonable  prices  than  in  the  city  of  Frederick 
the  Great. 

Thanksgiving  Dinner. 

Wilna,  Dec.  3,  1866. 
My  dear  Mamma: 

I  begin  you  a  letter  here  as  we  have  some  time 
before  the  train  starts  for  St.  Petersburg  which  I 
will  finish  there,  and  will  take  up  my  story  at 
Berlin,  where  I  left  myself  just  going  to  dinner. 

The  dinner  was  quite  successful  and  amusing: 
about  one  hundred  Americans  of  all  styles  collected 
together,  one  pretty  girl.  Miss  R.  of  Springfield,  my 
classmate  Green  (The  distinguished  oculist  Dr.  J. 
Orne  Green.),  lots  of  old  professional  buffers,  and  a 
good  deal  of  ruff  skuff  in  long  coats  and  red  scarfs, 
and  several  military  men.  Charlie  and  I  got  an  old 
Russian  gentleman  between  us  and  talked  phi- 
losophy and  la  vie  Russe. 

The  minister,  Mr.  Wright,  presided,  and  went 
through  very  gracefully  the  rather  difficult  per- 
formance of  drinking  the  health  of  the  President ! 

The  Opera  House  at  Berlin  is  quite  stunning,  and 
they  have  the  best  female  singer  in  the  world, 
Lucca.  We  did  not  have  the  good  fortune  to  hear 
her,     Berlin  is  ahead  of  all  the  world  in  music.     In 


STATUE    OF    KANT.        K  O  N'IGSBU  RG,     186(). 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  73 

other  respects  I  think  it  rather  a  dull  city,  but  then, 
we  have  not  as  yet  shaken  off  the  glitter  of  Paris 
from  our  garments. 

The  next  day  we  went  to  Konigsberg  on  the 
Baltic,  where  we  passed  twenty-four  hours,  and 
visited  the  Schloss  where  the  Teutonic  Knights  in 
ye  ancient  time  held  their  revels,  and  where  later 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Prussia  lived  when  Napo- 
leon captured  Berlin  and  made  the  peace  of  Tilsit. 
There  is  an  old  modern  church  in  which  the  number- 
less columns  almost  prevent  your  seeing  across,  and 
a  very  old  cathedral,  with  lots  of  interesting 
monuments. 

Yesterday  we  came  here,  a  flourishing  Polish 
town  before  Russia  "gobbled  it  up,"  and  go 
through  the  experience  of  having  our  trunks  and 
passports  examined  every  few  hours,  although, 
when  they  find  we  are  Americans,  they  are  very 
civil.  They  can't  quite  make  us  out,  and  look 
upon  us  as  curiosities,  especially  stopping  at  Wilna. 
America  seems  to  them  so  far  off.  The  Russian 
surveillance  is  very  strict  in  the  Polish  cities,  more 
so  than  in  Russia  proper,  and  it  was  here  that  lots 
of  Poles  were  hung  only  a  few  years  ago.  Napoleon 
slept  in  the  palace  here  the  night  after  Alexander 
left  it. 

It  is  so  awfully  funny,  this  first  taste  of  Russia, 
little  sleighs  just  holding  one  man  all  covered  with 
furs,  and  a  big  hoop  over  the  horse  like  the  pictures 
in  our  geography,  —  narrow  streets  with  crowds  of 
Jews,  great  bulb  like  steeples  to  the  churches,  and 
everything  different.  They  keep  the  houses  so 
warm  that  you  almost  suffer.  Well,  I  must  close 
for  tonight. 

N.    A. 


74  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

My  Fairy  Sleigh. 

The  spring  previous  to  this  Russian  journey  I 
received  the  following  note  from  Mrs.  Harrison 
Gray  Otis,  on  receiving  a  photograph  of  myself  in 
my  fancy  sleigh :  — 

"Mrs.  Harrison  Gray  Otis  presents  her  regards  to  Mr. 
Appleton,  and  very  much  thanks  him  for  the  interesting 
photograph  which  she  had  already  admired.  She  hopes 
he  will  have  more  snow  the  next  winter  to  enjoy  his  fairy 
like  equipage,  and  wishes  him  health  and  happiness  as  a 
reward  for  his  wounds  in  the  service  of  his  country. 

Mt.  Vernon  Street, 
14th  March,  1866. 

My  pretty  sleigh  had  the  appearance  of  a  Russian 
one  as  I  had  arranged  what  looked  like  a  ' '  duga 
over  the  saddle  of  the  horse,  with  a  waving  plume. 
I  once  drove  down  State  street  in  it  with  my 
colored  groom,  the  same  old  "Joe"  who  was  with 
me  in  the  army,  sitting  behind  in  the  rumble,  and 
from  its  striking  appearance,  with  the  white  fox 
robes,  made  a  mild  sensation. 

Stop  Over  at  Wilna. 

We  broke  the  journey  from  Berlin  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, which  is  long  and  uninteresting,  by  stopping 
over  twenty-four  hours  at  Wilna,  once  the 
capital  of  Lithuania,  afterwards  an  important 
Polish  and  at  present  an  unimportant  Russian 
town.  We  thought  we  ought  not  to  jump  into  the 
middle  of  Russia  at  once ;  we  ought  to  look  a  little 
at  the  edges,  and  study  the  ways  and  customs  of 
the  provincials,  which  we  were  sure  would  be 
curious  and  worth  seeing,  so  it  was  decided  that  we 
pass  a  day  at  Wilna. 


.<• 

^1 1       *  «^l 

BV'' 

^k 

MT 

A^^^^l^l 

R^ 

tl 

SINGLE     SLEiCiH. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND  SOCIETY  75 

There  is  probably  no  part  of  the  civilized  world 
where  the  annoyances  about  passports  and  baggage 
are  greater  than  in  conquered  Poland.  Everyone 
who  enters  the  land  is  looked  upon  with  suspicion, 
and  the  difficulty  is  not  by  any  means  over  when 
you  get  in,  for  there  is  the  same  trouble  to  get  out 
again,  sometimes  even  worse.  But  few  tourists 
stop  there,  and  so  any  well-dressed  stranger  seen  is 
an  object  of  curiosity,  and  is  most  carefully  watched 
by  the  pohce.  Particularly  is  this  system  of 
espionage  strong  in  the  small  cities,  and  one's  life 
there  by  it  becomes  a  burden. 

It  was  late  at  night  when  we  arrived  at  the  depot. 
Our  passports  were  carefully  scrutinized,  our  names 
recorded,  the  name  of  the  hotel  where  we  intended 
to  stop  was  taken  down,  and  we  were  told  that 
owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour  our  trunks  would 
not  be  examined  that  night,  but  that  we  must  come 
for  the  ceremony  at  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning. 
We  were  also  informed  that  we  could  not  leave  the 
city  without  again  having  our  passports  examined 
and  the  proper  visa  put  on. 

The  Russian  Beggar. 

When  we  looked  out  of  our  hotel  window  the  next 
morning  the  street  in  front  was  filled  with  beggars 
of  every  description,  who  on  seeing  us  at  the  win- 
dow began  going  through  every  imaginable  kind  of 
pantomime  which  might  appeal  to  the  pity  or  the 
pride  of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 
Perhaps  of  all  the  types  of  beggars  in  the  world,  the 
Polish  Jew  is  the  most  striking.  His  long  greasy 
hair,  his  longer  and  greasier  coat,  his  trowsers 
tucked  in  his  boots  and  his  peculiar  cap,  are  dis- 
tinguishing traits.     And  then  how  he  can  pile  on 


76  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

the  agony  in  facial  expression  and  gesture!  No 
imagined  grief  of  Dante's  Inferno  can  excel  what 
the  Polish  Jew  would  make  you  believe  are  his 
sufferings  as  he  stands  thus  piteously  addressing 
you.  For  a  handful  of  copper  coins  flung  among 
the  crowd,  they  fought  hard  and  long. 

A  Tour  of  the  Town. 

After,  with  some  difficulty,  getting  possession 
of  our  trunks,  and  showing  that  they  contained 
no  infernal  machines,  nor  suspicious  looking  insur- 
rectionary pamphlets,  we  jumped  into  a  sleigh,  as 
the  ground  here  was  well  covered  with  snow,  and 
wrapping  ourselves  up  in  our  shubes  started  off  on  a 
tour  of  inspection  through  the  town. 

There  is  something  very  fascinating  in  the  first 
suspicion  of  the  Orient  as  seen  in  the  outlying 
frontier  towns  of  the  Sclavonic  race.  The  bright 
colored  churches  with  their  bulbous  steeples  albeit 
dull  and  in  miniature,  give  a  suggestive  hint  of 
what  the  glories  of  Moscow  and  Constantinople  will 
be.  The  queer  costumes  of  the  people,  neither 
Asiatic  or  European,  and  their  manners  in  which 
the  patriarchal  reverence  for  authority  of  the  East 
is  tinged  with  the  curiosity  and  thirst  for  knowledge 
of  the  West,  make  you  regard  them  as  a  sort  of 
stepping  stone  or  connecting  link  between  Eastern 
and  Western  customs  and  civilization.  And  then 
it  is  all  so  different  from  life  in  the  other  European 
capitals,  where  each  one  is  more  or  less  a  stilted 
copy  of  the  others.  Here  you  have  the  mixture  of 
the  European  and  Asiatic  elements  in  such  a 
peculiar  way,  that  something  astonishing  strikes 
you  continually,  and  the  social  relations  are  so 
vague  that  real  adventures  are  likely  to  befall  you 
in  all  the  classes  of  society. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  77 

The  rough  wooden  sleigh  in  which  we  were 
whisked  through  the  place,  with  its  brightly 
painted  duga  over  the  horse's  head,  the  light 
ornamented  harness,  with  the  strange  dress  of  the 
driver,  made  visions  of  winter  pleasures  in  St. 
Petersburg  fill  our  imaginations,  and  we  thought 
what  a  sensation  we  would  make  could  we  only  be 
transferred  just  as  we  were  into  the  Harlem  Lane! 

The  Russian  Horse,  Sleigh  and  Coachman. 

Your  sleigh  follows  you  round  by  day  and  night, 
always  within  call,  and  so,  enveloped  in  the  dark 
furs  of  Astrachan  or  Siberia,  you  sally  forth  on 
your  round  of  conquest.  The  horses  are  superb, 
very  fast  trotters,  with  high  knee  action,  and  hold- 
ing their  heads  gracefully ;  the  favorite  colors  are 
black  or  dappled  gray.  The  ordinary  sleigh,  that 
of  the  grand  seigneur,  such,  indeed,  as  the  Emperor 
almost  always  uses,  as  well  as  those  you  pick  up 
anywhere  in  the  streets,  are  not  unlike  our  well- 
known  Portland  cutters.  Between  the  regular 
seat  and  the  dash-board  is  a  little  narrow  seat  on 
which  the  driver  perches,  with  one  foot  inside,  and 
the  other  in  a  sort  of  stirrup  outside,  from  which 
he  braces  himself  to  hold  the  horse.  A  fur  robe, 
or  rather  a  thick  cloth  robe  trimmed  with  a  deep 
border  of  fur,  comes  over  you  and  is  fastened 
around  you,  and  hooked  at  the  corners  of  the 
sleigh  in  such  a  way  that  you  cannot  tumble  out. 
The  sleighs  are  very  plain,  generally  of  varnished 
wood,  not  even  painted.  The  coachman  is  a  type 
quite  diflferent  from  what  you  will  see  in  any  other 
country.  The  most  stylish  are  stout,  impressive 
looking  men  of  middle  age,  with  a  long  beard  like 
a  French  sapcur.  They  wear  a  dark,  thick  gar- 
ment, which  in  shape  I  can  only  compare  to  a 


78  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

dressing-gown,  fastened  around  the  waist  with  a 
brilliant  sash,  and  then  falling  nearly  to  the  feet  in 
great  plaits. 

The  fashionable  owners  of  these  turnouts  are 
seated  behind  their  drivers  as  comfortable  as  pos- 
sible, and  take  as  much  interest  in  racing  on  the 
road  and  passing  those  about  them,  as  we  do  when 
handling  the  ribbons  ourselves.  By  far  the  most 
elegant  turnout  is  the  single  sleigh  with  a  trotter 
in  the  shafts  and  a  horse  on  each  side,  making  three 
abreast,  galloping  along.  They  are  trained  spec- 
ially for  this  when  young,  and  they  do  it  well ;  bend- 
ing their  heads  down  to  the  right  or  left,  as  it  may 
be,  and  rushing  along  madly.  The  Prefect  of 
Police  of  St.  Petersburg  had  a  stunning  team  of 
that  kind. 

Besides  all  I  have  mentioned  there  are  many 
Handsome  double-seated  sleighs,  with  a  flunkey 
standing  up  behind  on  a  board  near  the  ground  in 
some  gorgeous  livery,  and  cocked  hat  with  turkey 
feathers  of  different  colors,  like  a  major  general's. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  net  that  goes 
from  the  horse's  back  to  the  dash-board  of  the 
sleigh,  to  prevent  the  snow  from  being  kicked  in 
your  face,  a  most  sensible  idea,  and  one  we  could 
well  copy  in  America.  These  nets  are  of  brilliant 
colors,  red,  blue,  or  green,  to  match  the  livery  and 
the  sleigh,  and  the  effect  is  fine  as  they  float  in  the 
wind.  The  winter  of  1870-'l,  after  my  return  from 
Russia,  I  used  the  net  to  keep  the  snow  from  being 
kicked  in  my  face,  a  blue  one,  which  I  bought  in 
St,  Petersburg.  A  young  fellow  who  saw  me  pass- 
ing and  did  not  understand  what  it  was  for,  cried 
out:  —  "Look  at  that  man,  he's  afraid  the  flies  will 
bite  his  horse!"  —  Not  a  bad  remark  for  mid- 
winter, and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Russian 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  79 

ideas  of  sleighing  were  not  altogether  appreciated 
in  America. 

At  Wilna.    The  Chief  of  Police. 

The  most  amusing  scene  of  our  stop  over  at 
Wilna,  was  at  the  office  of  the  Chief  of  Police.  To 
arrange  our  passports  for  departing  we  went  to  the 
office  during  the  afternoon,  but  as  it  was  jour  de 
fete,  as  it  generally  is,  in  honor  of  some  saint,  the 
bureau  was  closed  and  the  head  official  was  absent. 
In  consideration  of  the  great  regard  Russia  felt  for 
the  United  States,  the  second  in  command  agreed 
to  attend  to  our  case,  as  we  were  in  a  hurry  to  leave 
the  city,  with  the  understanding  that  it  must  be 
submitted  to  his  chief  for  approval.  The  interview 
was  characteristic  and  ludicrous.  The  official 
spoke  a  little  bad  German,  nothing  else  except 
Russian.  We  had  both  neglected  our  German 
studies  and  only  knew  a  few  phrases,  sufficient  to 
demand  the  necessities  of  life  in  travelling.  The 
gaps  were  filled  up  with  gestures,  and  the  inter- 
rogatory of  name,  age,  residence,  occupation, 
went  on  slowly  and  unintelligibly  enough  until  the 
hotel  keeper,  having  heard  of  the  dilemma  in  which 
all  parties  found  themselves,  came  to  the  rescue 
with  the  little  French  he  knew  and  assurances  of 
the  good  character  of  the  persons  on  trial,  affirming 
that  he  had  conversed  with  us  long  at  his  hotel  and 
he  was  certain  there  was  nothing  suspicious  about 
us.  This  only  confused  things  more,  and  the  poor 
official  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  He  was  unwilling 
to  take  so  great  a  responsibility  upon  himself  and 
began  to  think  he  had  got  some  important  political 
offenders.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  the  interview 
would  have  ended ;  it  began  to  look  as  if  he  intended 


80  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

locking  us  up  until  he  should  have  time  to  reflect, 
but  fortunately  the  Chief  of  Police  at  this  moment 
came  in.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  education  and 
delicacy  of  feeling,  one  of  those  polished  Russian 
officers  so  often  met,  and  what  was  more  to  the 
point  spoke  both  English  and  French  fluently.  He 
sat  down  quietly  at  his  table,  and  in  a  dignified 
manner  saying  a  few  words  in  Russian  to  his  now 
abashed  assistant,  examined  carefully  the  pass- 
ports, and  finding  everything  en  regie,  asked  us  a 
few  simple  questions,  which  being  satisfactorily 
answered,  he  said:  — 

"I  must  apologize,  gentlemen,  for  the  annoyance 
to  which  you  have  been  unavoidably  subjected, 
but  we  poor  officials  have  very  strict  orders  in 
Polish  Russia,  and  mistakes  will  sometimes  arise." 

When  it  was  time  to  leave  we  were  consigned  to 
the  best  attention  of  all  the  conductors  and  railroad 
officials  of  the  line,  with  orders  to  be  treated  as 
became  American  princes.  The  train  was  well 
filled  with  passengers,  and  we  took  our  places  in 
carriage  722,  C,  premiere  classe,  St.  Petersburgh 
and  Warsaw  Railroad. 


NEVSKI    PROSPECT      ST.     PETERSBURG. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND  SOCIETY  81 

CHAPTER  FOURTH. 

ST.    PETERSBURG.       TSAR    ALEXANDER    II. 

"  I  shall  not  be  particular  in  stating 
His  journey,  we've  so  many  tours  of  late, 
Suppose  him  then  at  Petcrsburgh;  suppose 
That  pleasant  capital  of  painted  snows :  — 

Damsels  and  dances,  revels,  ready  money, 
Made  ice  seem  paradise,  and  winter  sunny.  " 

— Lord  Byron. 

Letter  to  My  Mother. 

St.  Petersburg,  December  5,  1860.  (Continua- 
tion of  letter  written  at  Wilna.)  Here  we  are  at 
last,  having  arrived  yesterday  evening,  and  I  must 
say  that  our  first  impressions  are  in  the  midst  of 
difticulties,  for  on  awakening  this  morning  we  found 
it  actually  thawing,  and  the  streets  are  all  filled  with 
slosh,  but  the  funny  little  sleighs  rush  about  inces- 
santly, and  perfectly  silently  as  there  are  no  bells 
on  the  horses.  We  have  been  occupied  today 
going  to  the  banker's  where  I  found  yotir  letter,  and 
to  the  American  legation  where  we  saw  the  minister, 
who  told  us  that  my  classmate,  Jeremiah  Curtin, 
had  gone  only  yesterday  to  Moscow  for  two  or 
three  weeks,  and  in  looking  up  some  kind  of  good 
apartment. 

I  think  we  shall  stay  here  some  time  over  Christ- 
mas, which  I  believe  comes  later  in  the  Russian 
calendar  than  with  us,  and  devote  some  time  to 
learning  Russian  and  continuing  our  French.  In 
fact  for  the  latter  there  can  be  no  better  place  than 


82  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

here.  There  are  only  about  six  or  seven  hours  of 
dayHght  now,  and  these  we  must  give  up  to  sight 
seeing,  which  I  mean  to  do  thoroughly,  and  to 
skating  and  sleighing.  In  my  next  I  will  give  you 
a  good  account  of  Saint  Petersburg  and  its  sights. 
Till  then  adieu.  Nathan. 

To  My  Sister. 

Saint  Petersburg,  December  14,  1866. 

Well,  isn't  it  droll,  here  is  your  young 

brother  established  as  a  gay  flaneur  in  St.  P.,  who 
means  to  delve  into  all  the  gayeties  of  the  Russian 
life. 

Our  Minister,  General  Cassius  M.  Clay,  (Of 
Kentucky,  then  56  years  of  age.),  presented  Charlie 
and  myself  the  other  day  to  a  most  lovely  Russian 
Princess,  who  lives  in  a  gorgeous  palace  worth 
about  one  million  roubles,  —  a  rouble  in  gold  is 
just  our  paper  dollar.  (This  was  true  at  that  time 
when  our  currency  was  depreciated.)  After  going 
through  suites  of  apartments,  billiard  room  and 
salons,  we  found  her  in  the  boudoir,  and  she 
received  us  with  such  a  graceful  cordiality  that  she 
won  both  our  hearts  immediately,  and  we  are  now 
at  her  feet.  Tomorrow  General  Clay  is  to  take  us 
to  the  reception  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  as 
they  are  to  give  a  ball  soon  to  which  he  wants  us 
to  be  invited.  The  Minister  seems  very  inclined 
to  be  attentive  and  kind.  We  shall  presently  be 
presented  in  due  form  to  the  Imperial  family. 

Charlie  and  I  are  very  comfortably  established 
in  a  nice  apartment  with  our  books,  and  I  want  to 
stay  here  indefinitely.  One  must  pass  the  winter 
somewhere,  and  why  not  here,  where  so  few  Amer- 
icans have  tried  it  ? 


HON.     CASSIUS    M.    CLAY,     MINISTER    TO     RUSSIA. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  83 

We  have  a  jolly  sleigh  at  our  disposition,  with  a 
horse  who  rushes  off  like  mad.  Vehicles  are  a 
necessity  here,  where  the  distances  are  so  tremen- 
doxis,  and  no  one  ever  walks,  and  you  can  hire 
excellent  traps  by  the  day,  week,  or  month,  much 
cheaper  than  taking  them  by  the  course.  The 
sleighing  has  been  splendid  for  the  last  week,  and 
the  Nevsky  Prospect  any  afternoon  is  a  sight  worth 
seeing,  filled  with  all  kinds  of  sleighs.  I  have  even 
seen  one  or  two  of  our  American  cutters.  All  the 
strange  equipages  you  read  about  are  actually  true, 
and  the  troika  with  one  horse  trotting  and  the  other 
two  galloping  is  no  uncommon  sight.  The  sleigh- 
ing, when  it  once  begins,  lasts  right  along,  as  there 
is  no  sun  at  all  to  melt  it,  the  days  being  very  short, 
and  what  little  sky  there  is  overcast.  You  don't 
feel  the  cold  much  either  as  there  is  very  little 
wind,  —  how  I  shiver  when  I  think  of  the  Mill 
Dam,  - —  (The  "Mill  Dam  Road"  a  favorite  Boston 
drive.),  and  we  are  learning  many  a  wrinkle  in  the 
art  of  keeping  warm,  which  we  shall  bring  out  in 
America.  The  shops,  too,  are  fascinating,  and  I 
expect  to  invest  heavily  during  my  stay  in  all  kinds 
of  Russian  articles,  Persian  silks  and  Circassian 
silver,  Russian  amulets,  and  the  thousand  and  one 
things  which  you  don't  see  even  in  the  cosmopolitan 
shops  of  Paris;  among  others  a  complete  Russian 
harness,  with  a  cap  for  the  driver.  There  is  a  huge 
bazaar,  where  everything  can  be  found,  built  in  a 
parallelogram,  with  shops  on  the  four  sides. 

The  most  fascinating  things  are  the  hoods  all  the 
ladies  wear,  covering  just  half  their  little  fur  caps. 
These  are  made  of  different  colored  cloths  with 
embroidery  of  gold  or  silver.  The  fur  lined  slip- 
pers, too.  are  not  bad,  but  I  won't  tantalize  you 
with  descriptions.     As  I  do  not  anticipate  coming 


84  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

here  again  soon  I  mean  to  do  the  thing  up  this 
time.  I  skated  today  for  the  first  time  on  a  pond 
belonging  to  the  Russian  Yacht  Club,  to  which  we 
have  received  tickets,  but  there  were  only  a  few 
there,  in  fact  the  skating  does  not  fairly  begin  until 
the  Neva  Skating  Club  is  open,  which  is  the  swell 
place,  where  all  the  nobility  go.  It  is  gotten  up 
by  the  English,  and  is  a  large  square,  fenced  in 
with  pine  trees  planted  in  the  ice,  situated  on  the 
Neva  in  the  city,  with  nice  houses  to  put  on  your 
skates  and  warm  yourself,  very  necessary  here, 
and  several  times  during  the  season  they  give  fetes 
by  night.  We  have  subscription  tickets  for  the 
season,  and  I  think  it  will  be  open  in  a  few  days. 
But  with  all  this  we  m.ust  not  forget  our  art,  and 
here  we  have  the  magnificent  gallery  of  the  Her- 
mitage, one  of  the  finest  though  not  the  best  known 
in  Europe,  and  we  can  wander  a  whole  winter 
through  its  endless  galleries  without  exhausting 
the  treasures. 

Sunday  morning:  I  hope  the  little  jacket  and  hat 
will  be  pleasing  to  Master  Billy,  which  Mr.  Burgess 
is  to  bring  from  Paris.  I  will  get  him  a  few  of  the 
Oriental  and  Cossack  children's  dresses,  which  are 
stunning  and  very  plentiful  here,  and  then  I  think 
he  will  make  a  sensation  on  Beacon  street. 

Well,  my  dear,  I  must  close  and  dispatch  this. 
Today  we  are  to  skate  on  the  Yacht  Club  Pond,  as 
thev  have  a  fete  there  every  Sunday,  and  tonight 
at  midnight  is  the  first  bal  masque  at  the  Grand 
Opera.  "On  with  the  dance, "  and  vive  la  jeimesse! 
Last  evening  we  passed  at  the  English  consul's  and 
met  some  very  pretty  young  Cossacks,  quite  civil- 
ized, however.  Charlie  sends  lots  of  love  to  you 
both.  He  is  now  in  front  of  the  fire  with  his  feet 
in  the  air.  Well,  goodbye,  and  pinch  Billy's 
cheeks  for  me.  Nate. 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND    SOCIETY  85 

There  is  a  pretty  arrangement  in  Russian  houses, 
which  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  that  I  know  of. 
Part  of  the  large  drawing-room,  generally  a  corner 
by  windows,  is  often  fenced  off  by  itself,  raised  on 
a  platform,  about  a  foot  above  the  rest  of  the  floor. 
Here  is  formed  a  sort  of  garden  in  the  house.  The 
light  iron  fence  is  covered  with  some  green,  flower- 
ing vine,  and  inside  are  some  exotics,  palms  and 
other  tropical  plants,  and  the  effect  is  enchanting. 
The  ladies  select  this  as  their  especial  haunt,  trans- 
forming it  into  a  boudoir  where  they  read  their 
favorite  novels,  write  their  notes,  or  work  at 
embroidery. 

I  made  my  purchases  of  Circassian  trinkets  and 
toys,  to  send  home  to  my  nephews  and  nieces,  in 
the  Passage,  a  much  frequented  place  for  the  idlers 
of  the  town,  in  imitation  of  the  Burlington  Arcade 
in  London,  and  the  Passage  des  Panoramas  of 
Paris. 

Those  were  pleasant  skating  parties  we  had  on 
the  Neva,  in  the  open  rink  of  the  Club,  where  all 
the  nobility  and  swells  of  the  place  came  out  to 
show  their  agility.  Thanks  to  much  practice  and 
many  a  tumble  upon  the  Frog  Pond  of  Boston,  I 
was  a  skillful  skater,  and  my  partners  were  also 
proficient  in  that  difficult  accomplishment.  How 
we  dashed  along  over  the  place  where  Peter  the 
Great  had  often  been  paddled  in  his  rough-hewn 
boat,  now  forward  together  arm-in-arm,  now  one 
backward  and  the  other  forward,  each  bending  in 
time  to  the  graceful  curves  of  the  outside  edge ! 


86  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

To  My  Mother. 

St.  Petersburg,  27th  Nov.  Russian  Calendar. 

9th  Dec.  American  Calendar. 
My  dear  Mamma. 

Your  letter  containing  the  tribute  to  Charlie 
Smith  I  found  at  the  bank  yesterday.  How  true 
and  good  the  account  of  him  is.  You  expected 
it  would  reach  me  in  Paris,  but  you  see  we  have  got 
ofif  before.  We  are  getting  somewhat  settled  here 
now,  though  we  are  not  as  yet  fairly  lances  into  the 
gay  life.  This  is  partly  on  account  of  the  horrid 
weather,  for  ever  since  we  have  been  here  it  has 
been  gradually  melting  into  slosh  and  the  sleighing 
rapidly  disappearing.  Sudden  changes  are  com- 
mon, and  today  is  cold  again  with  snow  falling. 

Great  Sea  Street. 

We  have  got  a  very  nice  little  apartment  on  the 
great  Moscow  street,  just  in  the  centre  of  the  city, 
and  the  house  opposite  being  very  low  we  get  as 
much  light  as  is  possible  anywhere. 

We  are  in  a  French  maison  meubUe  with  a  very 
pleasant  Arthur  O'Leary  style  of  table  d'hote,  where 
we  meet  half  a  dozen  different  gentlemen  from  all 
kinds  of  countries,  and  we  talk  in  French  of  the 
relative  merits  of  our  respective  nationalities.  In 
fact,  we  do  more  French  talking  here  than  in  Paris. 
In  the  afternoon  before  dinner  we  take  a  lesson  in 
Russian,  our  teacher  using  French  as  the  basis  of 
instruction,  and  I  presume  by  the  time  I  leave 
Russia,  I  shall  be  unable  to  speak  any  other  lan- 
guage. It  is  considerable  difficult  though,  but  I 
go  on  the  principle  of  learning  everything. 

The  Church  of  Sault  Isaac,  which  is  about  the 


BOLSIIAJA     MORSKAJA    (GREAT    SEA    STREET). 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  87 

only  sight  we  have  seen,  is  perfectly  gorgeous,  with 
its  huge  pillars  of  malachite  and  lapis  lazuli  from 
the  mines  of  Demidoff.  You  enter,  and  a  myster- 
ious feeling,  half  oriental  and  half  European, 
carries  you  away.  The  perpetual  incense,  the 
prostrate  worshipers,  the  delicious  temperature  and 
the  ornaments  which  combine  the  luxe  of  Europe 
with  the  savage  gorgeousness  of  Asia,  form  a  whole 
which  the  churches  of  Italy  do  not  have.  Perhaps 
this  combination  of  East  and  West  is  the  great 
charm  to  the  life  in  Russia.  The  toilettes  of  the 
ladies  have  come  from  the  brain  and  fingers  of 
Parisian  couturier^  adapted  to  climate  here.  The 
Oriental  element  you  see  strong  in  the  livery  of 
servants  and  the  uniforms  of  officers.  The  feeling 
of  caste  is  very  marked,  and  while  the  London 
flunkey  beats  the  world  in  servility,  and  the  Italian 
beggar  in  woe-begone  dejection,  the  Russian  ser- 
vant seems  to  be  afraid  of  you,  recognizing  the 
superior  man  in  everything. 

Pretty  Russian  Maidens. 

I  have  not  yet  had  a  good  chance  to  see  all  the 
different  sleighs  in  their  glory,  but  from  what  I 
have  seen  I  think  they  will  be  stunning.  We  saw 
two  pretty  little  Russian  maidens,  with  their  white 
furs,  driving  along  in  a  jolly  sleigh,  the  horse  in  the 
shafts  trotting  gaily,  and  one  on  his  left  cantering 
beside  him. 

The  omnibuses  have  three  horses,  but  I  have 
not  seen  a  swell  in  his  troika.  The  horses  certainly 
trot  faster  than  any  except  ours,  and  some  I  see  on 
the  Nevsky  Prospect  would  make  a  very  creditable 
show  on  the  Brighton  road. 

P.  M.     We  have  been  out   today  to   visit   Mr. 


88  RUSSIAN    LIFE    AND    SOCIETY 

Pierce,  (A  relative  of  the  Longfellows,  who  had 
been  secretary  of  legation  during  President  Pierce's 
administration,  and  at  the  time  we  were  in  Russia 
connected  with  the  Winans  in  the  railroad  building 
business.)  who  lives  about  four  miles  outside  the 
city,  and  after  passing  the  place  by  mistake  and 
returning,  we  succeeded  in  finding  him,  and  received 
a  most  hospitable  reception.  He  seemed  much 
inclined  to  help  us  in  any  way  to  have  a  jolly  time. 
The  sleighing  was  fine  and  the  air  deliciously  cold 
and  clear. 

The  Russian  youths  at  the  theatres  are  a  most 
enthusiastic  crowd,  and  I  have  seen  singers  at  the 
Opera,  ballet  dancers,  or  even  a  circus  star  called 
out  five  or  six  times.  The  Grand  Opera  House  is 
very  fine,  and  the  ballet  troupe  gorgeous,  quite  as 
good,  if  not  better,  than  the  one  in  Paris.  There 
is  a  theatre  (Saint  Michel)  where  they  give  French 
and  German  plays,  so  that  one  can  have  most 
everything. 

Well,  I  have  lots  of  letters  to  write  and  no  time 
to  write  any  of  them,  so  that  this  must  suffice  you 
for  the  week.  Nathan. 

The  theatre  is  large  and  finely  decorated.  The 
Imperial  box  is  always  ready  to  be  occupied  by  the 
Tsar  or  some  member  of  his  family,  the  sentries 
standing  on  each  side  of  it  in  their  gorgeous  uni- 
forms as  motionless  as  statues.  The  pit  is  filled 
with  the  viveurs  of  the  city,  young  and  old,  who 
are  in  their  stalls,  lorgnettes  in  hand,  watching 
every  movement  on  the  stage.  Between  the  acts 
all  file  out  into  the  smoking  room,  when  a  papyrus 
is  inhaled,  and  some  cooling  beverage  partaken  of 
in  the  interlude  of  the  play. 

The  ballet  itself  is  a  master- piece  of  skill  in  its 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  89 

peculiar  style.  The  dancers  are  trained  carefully 
for  years  in  a  school  under  the  Imperial  patronage, 
and  only  appear  upon  the  stage  after  having  gone 
through  a  long  apprenticeship.  The  story  of  the 
piece,  of  which  the  scene  takes  place  in  Russia  or 
some  of  the  Oriental  countries,  is  most  carefully 
worked  up  by  the  author,  and  entirely  acted  in 
pantomime  and  dance.  All  the  passions  of  love, 
hatred,  jealousy  and  revenge  will  be  exhibited  by 
motions  aided  by  the  changing  strains  of  an  excel- 
lent orchestra.  When  a  favorite  daiiseiise  comes 
bounding  across  the  stage,  attired  in  Russian 
costume,  delineating  in  her  movements  sentiments 
which  appeal  to  the  pride  or  patriotism  of  the 
audience,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  house  knows  no 
limit,  and  words  and  shouts  of  applause  rend  the 
air  long  and  loud. 

Charles  K.  Smith. 

I  went  to  New  York  on  my  seventeenth  birth- 
day, February  2,  1860,  when  I  was  a  Freshman  at 
Harvard  College,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  family  of 
David  Lane,  whose  wife  was  Caroline  Lamson, 
sister  of  Colonel  Daniel  S.  Lamson,  friends  of  my 
mother,  who  lived  at  12  East  10th  Street  or  Bre- 
voort  Place,  as  it  was  called.  The  firm  was  Lane, 
Lamson,  &  Co.  The  American  flag  in  my  trophy 
was  given  me  by  one  of  this  family.  It  was  on  this 
New  York  visit  that  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Charlie  Smith,  and  he  seemed  to  take  a  great  liking 
to  me. 

In  my  diary  of  Feb.  2,  1860,  I  find,  "  In  the  even- 
ing people  came,  it  being  the  Lanes'  reception 
evening,  Mr.  Smith  and  others."  This  is  the  first 
mention  of  him.     One  evening,  shortly  after  this. 


90  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

he  invited  us  all  to  go  to  the  Italian  opera  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  in  Brooklyn,  and  we  accepted, 
driving  over  and  back. 

The  next  mention  is  in  regard  to  a  visit  to  Wes- 
ton, Mass.,  "Feb.  16,  1860.  Went  to  Weston  in  a 
glorious  snow  storm.  Stunning  dinner.  Went  for 
two  of  the  party  in  an  ox  team  to  the  station. 
Took  profiles  in  the  evening.     Supper  stunninger. 

Sunday,  Feb.  19,  1860.  There  was  no  church 
but  we  went  out  in  the  sleigh  to  see  Mr.  Smith's 
protege,  deaf  and  dumb.  (A  boy  he  was  interested 
in  and  was  having  educated.)     Good   dinner." 

Daniel  S.  Lamson,  our  especial  host  and  enter- 
tainer in  1860,  was  commissioned  Major  16th 
Mass.  Infantry,  Aug.  1,  1861,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
July  23,  1862,  and  resigned  for  disability  Sept. 
29,  1862.     But  this  was  the  year  before  the  War. 

I  always  called  him  "Uncle  Dan"  and  do  so 
still   (1904). 

Charlie  Smith  was  about  ten  years  my  senior, 
and  that  sort  of  regard  from  an  elder  is  always 
appreciated  by  a  boy.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  to 
New  York  he  was  stopping  at  the  Brevoort  House. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Club  in  Broad- 
way, the  crack  one  at  that  time,  and  won  my 
heart  and  esteem  at  once.  I  was  devoted  to  him. 
One  day  we  strolled  down  Broadway  and  he  treated 
me  to  oysters  and  a  glass  of  beer,  and  I  thought 
I  was  a  man  of  the  world. 

When  we  met  at  Weston  he  fascinated  me  more 
than  ever,  with  his  stories  and  songs,  and  we  had 
many  merry  evenings.  I  was  treated  as  a  young 
man,  not  a  boy,  and  I  look  back  to  those  old 
times  with  unmingled  delight. 

The  letter  I  received  from  my  mother  announc- 
ing Charlie  Smith's  death  at  San  Francisco,  I  can 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  91 

now  recall  and  explain.  Of  Boston  parentage, 
he  had  gone  to  California  in  the  early  days,  and 
made  what  at  that  time  was  considered  a  good 
fortune.  He  was  killed  accidentally  by  a  shot 
when  out  gunning.  He  was  so  popular  in  the 
city  of  San  Francisco  that  the  body  was  laid  in 
state  in  the  rooms  of  the  Union  Club  of  that 
city,  as  a  tribute  to  the  appreciation  in  which  he 
was  held  by  its  members. 

The   New   York  Club. 

The  New  York  Club,  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Great  Jones  street,  I  never  visited  with  Charlie 
Smith,  but  during  the  War  they  moved  to  the 
Haight  house.  Fifth  avenue  and  15th  street.  That 
was  the  apogee  of  their  greatness,  and  I  was  intro- 
duced and  became  a  six  months'  member.  Great 
Jones  street  was  near  property  which  belongs  to  the 
Jones-De  Trobriand-Post  families. 

To   My    Mother. 

Wednesday,  Dec.  20,  1866. 

Saint   Petersburg. 
My  dear  Mamma: 

I  begin  you  a  letter  now,  to  finish  sometime  if 
possible.  Your  last  one  talked  to  me  about  the 
furs.  I  think  you  are  quite  right  to  want  lots  of 
Russian  things,  as  they  are  fascinating,  and  you 
will  probably  never  have  as  good  an  opportunity 
of  getting  them.  Be  easy,  then,  for  I  am  to  buy 
no  end  of  various  things,  and  send  them  all  off  to 
Boston,  by  the  first  Spring  boat  of  Mr.  Ropes. 
Mr.  Prince,  who  is  the  h6ad  one  of  the  house  here, 
is  very  obliging,  and  being  a  good  judge  of  furs, 


92  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

I  think  I  can  satisfy  you  in  that  line,  though  they 
won't  be  in  time  for  this  winter.  I  shall  buy  the 
skins  only,  and  you  can  have  them  made  up  in 
Boston  to  suit  you,  as  the  fur  goods  they  wear 
here  are  different  from  ours,  and  might  not  please 
you.  For  instance,  I  have  not  seen  a  pair  of  cuffs 
in  St.  Petersburg.  I  shall  get  handsome,  dark 
Siberian  sable  skins,  worthy  of  a  princess,  Persian 
table  cloths,  malachite  ornaments,  slippers,  Cir- 
cassian silver,  etc.,  etc.,  and  also  something  which 
will  make  you  very  happy  —  a  little  box  or  two  of 
the  stunning  tea,  which  is  brought  across  from 
Pekin  in  caravans. 

We  are  to  dine  with  Mr.  Prince  next  Tuesday, 
which  is  Christmas  day,  and  have  since  had  to 
decline  an  invitation  for  the  same  day,  given  us  by 
the   English  Ambassador. 

Emperor  Alexander  II. —  Presentation, 

Two  days  ago  we  were  presented  to  the  Emperor. 
We  were  quite  alone,  no  other  people  being  pre- 
sented the  same  day.  We  marched  through  suites 
of  apartments,  and  were  formally  ushered  into 
His  Majesty's  billiard  room,  where  we  were  received 
by  two  of  the  chamberlains,  and  from  there  we 
went  into  the  reception  room  where  we  soon  had 
a  little  conversation  with  the  head  of  all  the  Rus- 
sias  in  our  native  (?)  language  of  French.  He 
is  very  nice,  I  give  you  my  word,  but  we  were 
disappointed  in  not  seeing  the  Empress,  though 
this  comes  some  other  time. 

We  have  a  good  many  occasions  of  airing  our 
French  in  the  beau  mondc  of  Russia,  and  I  find 
that  there  is  no  trouble  with  it;  the  only  thing  to 
do  being  to  go  right  along  regardless  of  errors, 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  93 

for  I  see  that  although  I  do  not  speak  very  well, 
there  are  plenty  who  speak  quite  as  bad  and  worse, 
and  this  being  a  neutral  ground  of  course  one  is 
bolder.  However,  a  great  many  of  the  well 
educated  speak  English  admirably. 

All  this  goes  to  show  that  we  are  in  for  society 
now,  and  have  to  await  quietly  a  round  of  balls, 
operas,  and  dinners,  and  return  our  calls  most 
punctiliously,  a  form  of  etiquette  about  which  the 
Russians  are  very  exacting. 

We  went  to  a  jolly  young  count's  (KoucheleflE 
Besborodko)  the  other  day,  who  immediately 
made  us  at  home  with  a  delicious  cigar.  His 
house,  take  it  all  in  all,  was  about  as  lovely  as 
any  I  have  ever  seen,  with  an  Oriental  smoking 
room,  a  Pompadour  boudoir,  a  Chinese  room,  a 
long  gallery  of  paintings,  an  immense  dancing  hall, 
and  a  conservatory  arranged  with  grottoes  and 
cascades,  a  rustic  bridge,  and  an  original  old  statue 
of  a  satyr,  picked  up  in  Rome.  The  Count  is  a 
great  connoisseur  of  art,  and  his  collection  in  all 
its  branches  is  magnificent,  with  souvenirs  of  every 
city  of  Europe,  and  all  the  ages  of  the  world, 
enough  to  drive  to  despair  any  such  little  dabblers 
as  myself. 

I  have  met  quite  a  charming  young  Austrian 
lady,  who  lives  with  the  Spanish  Ambassador's 
wife,  but  I  shall  take  good  care  of  my  heart  and 
bring  it  back  to  Boston. 

Our  acquaintances,  thus  far,  are  eminently  dip- 
lomatic, as  you  see,  the  English  consul's  family 
especially  being  very  attentive. 

We  skated  yesterday  on  the  Neva  Club  place 
for  the  first  time,  as  the  grounds  are  only  just 
opened,  but  today  it  is  thawing  again,  and  we 
must  wait  a  bit  for  it  to  freeze. 


94  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

I  think  you  would  be  rather  frightened  at  the 
way  they  drive  here  in  the  sleighs,  rushing  off  as 
fast  as  possible,  yelling  to  people  and  carriages 
to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  then  bringing  the  horse 
up  suddenly  with  a  droll  sound — bhr-r-r-r !— which 
corresponds  to  "whoa"  in  English.  In  some  letter 
I  will  describe  a  sleigh  for  you,  but  they  are  all 
alike,  from  the  Emperor's  to  the  street  cabs,  except 
in  finish.  There  are  very  few  covered  vehicles 
here  to  hire,  and  you  always  go,  by  night  and  day, 
in  an  open  sleigh,  so  you  can  judge  from  that,  that 
the  cold  is  not  so  awfully  severe  here  as  you  imag- 
ine. We  take  very  good  care  not  to  be  frozen,  as 
we  both  have  a  horror  of  the  amusement,  but 
enough  for  today.  Nate. 

The  Presentation. 

The  Hon.  Cassius  M.  Clay,  the  American  Min- 
ister, presented  C.  A.  Longfellow  and  myself  to 
the  Emperor. 

The  Invitation. 
Translated  from  the  French. 

Ministry  of  the  Imperial  Court. 

Direction  of  Ceremonies. 
St.  Petersburg,  5-17  December,  1866. 

The  Grand  Master  of  Ceremonies  has  the  honor  to 
inform  Mr.  N.  Appleton,  that  he  will  have  the  honor  of 
being  presented  to  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  tomorrow, 
Tuesday,  6-18  December,  at  half  past  one  in  the  afternoon 
at  the  Winter  Palace. 

You  are  requested  to  come  to  the  door  of  Her  Majesty 
the  Empress. 

[Seal.] 
[See  binding  of  this  book.] 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  95 

The  invitation  was  gladly  accepted,  not  only 
from  the  desire  of  meeting  in  person  the  Autocrat 
of  all  the  Russias,  but  also  because  once  done  your 
name  was  put  upon  the  list  of  distinguished  visit- 
ors to  the  capital,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  you 
were  invited  to  all  the  balls  and  festivities  of  the 
season.  General  Clay  called  for  us  in  his  sleigh, 
and  we  drove  to  the  Winter  Palace,  where  we  were 
met  by  some  of  the  officers  of  the  staff,  on  horse- 
back. The  regulation  dress  prescribed  for  us  was 
"black  or  blue  dress  coat,  black  vest  and  panta- 
loons, white  cravat  and  white  kids,"  as  stated 
in  a  marginal  note  by  General  Clay. 

Having  been  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the 
Emperor,  as  detailed  in  my  letter  to  m}^  mother, 
we  had  a  little  chat  with  him,  principally  answer- 
ing some  questions  about  America,  and  then  retired, 
and  went  down  stairs. 

While  waiting  in  the  hall  below  for  our  sleigh  to 
drive  up,  the  Tsar  came  bounding  down  the  stair- 
case, followed  by  his  favorite  Newfoundland  dog, 
with  which  he  was  often  photographed,  and  before 
jumping  into  his  sleigh  and  dashing  off  on  some 
call,  he  stopped  and  exchanged  a  few  more  words 
with  us.  Indeed  the  whole  interview  made  a  most 
agreeable  impression  upon  me. 

GORTSCHAKOFF. 

"The   days   when   the   great    Nicholas  leaned   on   him 
sweep  back  from  the  mists  of  the  buried  years.      In  his 
old  age.  he  is  the  Richelieu  of  another  Tsar,  for  Russia 
draws  the  sword  in  fight  once  more. 
—  Col.  Richard  Henry  Savage  on  Gortschakoff  in  1876. 

I  was  naturally  very  much  delighted  with  the 
prospect  of  being  presented  to  the  distinguished 


96  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

veteran  Russian  diplomatist  and  chancellor  of 
the  empire.  This  occurred  in  December  of  this 
year,  1866.  General  Clay  had  arranged  the  inter- 
view beforehand  with  Count  Gortschakoff,  and 
one  morning  called  for  us  at  our  hotel  in  his  sleigh 
to  take  us  there.  Another  person  was  of  the  party, 
and  strangely  enough  a  negro,  a  certain  Captain 
Chester,  who  was  out  in  Russia  on  some  special 
business. 

We  started  off  through  the  cold,  clear  air,  and 
were  soon  at  the  door  of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  where  we  were  expected,  and  ushered  in. 
We  first  met  Mr.  Westerman,  a  gentleman  who 
for  some  time  had  been  Count  Gortschakoff's  right 
hand  man  and  assistant  in  the  tremendous  duties 
of  his  ofhce,  and  were  then  shown  by  him  into  the 
private  cabinet  of  the  chancellor. 

Our  interview  was,  of  course,  not  lengthy,  but 
most  interesting.  The  old  gentleman  chatted 
with  us  very  pleasantly  on  different  topics,  and 
in  his  manner  and  reception  of  us  was  as  simple 
and  unaffected  as  a  child.  He  looked  hale  and 
hearty,  and  as  though  he  had  before  him  many 
years,  which  he  meant  to  devote  to  aiding  the 
development  of  Russian  progress  and  civilization, 
and  he  did  live  two  years  after  the  death  of  the 
Tsar  and  died  in  Baden-Baden    March  11,  1883. 

Letter   to    my   Mother. 

St.    Petersburg, 
Thursday,  Dec.  27,  1866. 
My  dear  Mamma. 

Another  week  has  glided  rapidly  by,  finding  us 
still  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  I  have  two  of  your 
letters  to  acknowledge,  the  last  one  bearing  date 
of  December  9th. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  97 

To  Cronstadt  —  An  American  Party. 

What  have  we  been  doing?  Among  other  things 
yesterday  a  party  of  Americans  went  to  see  Cron- 
stadt. We  were,  General  Roberts,  U.  S.  A.,  a 
good  specimen  of  an  American  general  (Benjamin 
Stone  Roberts,  graduate  of  West  Point,  served  in 
the  Mexican  war  and  the  Rebellion,  brevetted 
Brig.  Gen.  U.  S.  A.,  and  Major  Gen.  U.  S.  V., 
inventor  of  the  Roberts  breech-loading  rifle,  which 
he  was  trying  to  introduce  to  the  Russians.  He 
was  a  remarkably  genial  fellow,  and  had  lots  of 
good  stories  which  he  delighted  in  telling.),  Mr. 
Sawyer,  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
and  a  very  pleasant  companion,  C.  A.  L.,  and 
myself,  and  we  had  a  Russian  colonel  put  at  our 
disposal  to  open  the  gates  of  everything.  We 
went  down  by  rail  to  a  place  opposite  Cronstadt, 
and  then  crossed  over  the  Gulf  of  Finland  on  the 
ice,  with  two  funny  little  Finnish  ponies  to  each 
sledge,  one  trotting  and  the  other  galloping, 
but  going  like  the  wind,  and  doing  the  five  miles 
in  less  than  half  an  hour,  without  lessening  speed 
once.  It  was  very  cold  and  our  fur  coats  were 
necessary.  We  visited  some  of  the  forts,  and 
afterwards  breakfasted  at  the  Navy  and  Army 
Club  of  the  place.  The  whole  effect  of  the  day  and 
the  adventures  were  eminently  Russian.  We  had 
to  get  up  long  before  daylight,  and  saw  the  sun 
rise  about  9  o'clock,  something  one  does  not  often 
see  here,  as  we  are  generally  asleep  at  that  time. 

The  Imperial  Stables. 

One  day  last  week  we  visited  the  Imperial 
stables,  which   I   thought  very   shabby,   although 


98  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

many  of  the  horses  were  stunning,  and  afterwards 
we  examined  all  the  swell  carriages  and  sledges, 
which  have  been  used  at  coronations,  weddings 
and  fetes  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great  to  the 
Princess  Dagmar.  They  showed  all  varieties  of 
taste,  and  are  more  magnificent  than  those  at  the 
Trianon  at  Versailles. 

On  Christmas  Day  Charlie  and  self  dined  with 
Mr.  Prince,  and  attended  just  before  dinner  the 
christening  of  his  youngest  child.  It  was  quite 
a  large  dinner,  Anglo-American,  and  most  decid- 
edly respectable.  It  is  curious  how  very  few 
American  families  there  are  living  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. Last  Sunday  we  dined  with  Mr.  Whistler, 
(George  W.,  father  of  the  artist  James  Abbott 
McNeill  W.)  who  is  one  of  the  gentlemen  con- 
nected with  the  Winans  car  manufactory.  There 
were  about  twelve,  all  gentlemen,  and  all  Ameri- 
cans, indeed  it  included  almost  all  the  American 
males  here,  • —  General  Clay,  and  the  Consul,  Mr. 
Winans,  Mr.  Pierce,  and  others,  and  it  was  jolly 
enough. 

On  Saturday  next  Charlie  and  I  think  of  starting 
for  Moscow,  spending  ten  days,  or  so,  and  then 
returning,  as  we  give  up  the  Odessa  plan,  but  we 
have  not  quite  decided. 

Well,  I  must  stop  now,  as  I  go  in  a  minute  to 
drive  with  the  Spanish  Ambassador  and  his  wife, 
the  Duke  and  Duchess  d'Osuna  et  de  I'Ynfantado, 
but  whether  it  is  a  ''grand  diner  diplomatique"  or  a 
'' petite  causerie  intime"  I  know  not. 

Friday  morning:  I  have  just  time  to  finish  and 
dispatch  this  now,  before  going  out  to  perform  the 
numerous  last  duties  on  the  eve  of  our  departure 
for  Moscow.     Cards  must  be  sent  round,  etc.  etc. 

The  dinner  yesterday  was  very  good,  rather  in 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  99 

the  heavy  diplomatic  Hne,  old  swells  with  count- 
less decorations,  and  jewelled  dowagers  nodding 
over  the  table,  with  a  sprinkling  of  youthful 
attaches  and  officers  filling  up  the  corners.  Later 
in  the  evening  I  went  to  a  ball  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Artists'  Club,  and  danced  a  little. 

Well,  I  must  rush  out,  one  is  always  hurried 
here,  as  I  have  before  observed.  My  next  will 
probably  be  from  Moscow,  where  I  can  give  you 
an  account  of  our  cousin  Eliza,  and  deliver  her 
your  present;  also,  the  Kremlin,  and  the  tea-drink- 
ing gardens.  A  hard  snow  storm  which  looks  like 
continuing.  Adieu.  Nate. 

Ross    WlNANS. 

In  a  letter  from  my  mother  visiting  Baltimore 
in  1852,  to  my  sister  and  myself  in  Boston,  she 
wrote: — "This  morning  we  have  been  to  see  the 
most  superb  house  in  the  country,  built  by  a  gen- 
tleman of  the  name  of  Winans,  who  has  been 
employed  by  the  Russian  government  in  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  and  cars,  and  has  made  an 
immense  fortune."  This  letter  was  sealed  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  time  with  a  red  wafer. 

Ross  Winans,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  was  an 
inventor  and  manufacturer  of  railroad  machines 
in  Baltimore,  and  undertook  the  Russian  railroads 
by  the  advice  of  George  W.  Whistler.  He  died 
in  Baltimore,  in  1877,  at  the  age  of  eighty -one. 
He  had  two  sons  who  went  to  Russia;  Thomas 
de  Kay,  who  died  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  June  11,  1878, 
aged  fifty-eight,  and  William  Louis,  who  never 
returned  to  this  country,  but  went  to  England 
after  the  completion  of  the  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  railroad,  and  died  in  London,  June  25, 
1897,  aged  seventy-five. 


100  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

CHAPTER   FIFTH. 

MOSCOW.       THE    CITY    AND    ENVIRONS. 
TROTTING    IN    RUSSIA. 

"  Say,  Mandarin,  fresh  from  the  Orient  old, 

Will  they  give  us  the  queue  when  they  give  us  the  gold  ? 

Rise,  Curtin,  arise!  Let  the  Manchu  declare  — 

Is  he  under  the  paw  of  the  Great  Northern  Bear? 

You  uncovered  the  Pole,  brought  Pan  Michael  to  light. 
Ran  Sienkievitch   down  through  the  vast  polar  night ; 
Then,  skirting  the  coast  to  the  isles  of  the  Celt, 
You  caught  the  sweet  ballads  that  make  the  heart  melt. 

Thus  linking  two  worlds.     Nate  Appleton  tried, 
But  the  Gulf  was  too  deep,  or  the  Isthmus  too  wide. 
Brother  Pratt  had  the  keynote  —  he  doesn't  know  which. 
Art,  music,  the  lingo  of  Ivanovitch.  " 

—  James  Herbert  Morse. 

Harvard  College  Class  of  1863.  Poem  at  Class  Dinner  of 
1901. 

From  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow. 

The  journey  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow 
is  a  long  ride,  and  in  winter  when  the  days  are 
short,  seems  to  be  a  night  which  will  never  end. 
You  take  the  train  in  the  afternoon  and  have  not 
accomplished  many  scores  of  versts,  or  disposed 
of  many  hours,  before  twilight  fades  into  dark, 
and  the  great  snow  plain  on  every  side  loses  its 
brilliant  whiteness,  and  has  a  grey  and  mysterious 
look.  So,  too,  in  the  morning,  though  late,  the 
sun  is  not  more  than  fairly  up  when  you  behold 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  101 

in  the  distance  the  gilded  domes  and  fairy  minarets 
of  the  old  Russian  metropolis,  as  they  first  afjpear, 
and  you  feel  that  at  last  you  are  in  the  heart  of 
the  Empire.  But  the  hours  passed  in  the  cars 
are  far  from  tedious.  "Car"  is  the  word  that  can 
be  used,  for  those  on  that  railroad  line  much  more 
resembled  what  we  have  in  the  United  States,  than 
anything  to  be  found  in  Europe.  They  were 
divided  into  small  rooms  or  compartments,  a  large 
saloon  being  left  in  the  middle,  and  a  passage 
going  the  length  of  the  car,  so  that  you  could  pass 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  get  off  on  either 
platform.  At  that  time  no  regular  beds  were 
made  up,  as  in  our  "sleepers,"  but  the  cushions 
could  be  comfortably  arranged  and  the  weary 
traveller  repose  very  satisfactorily.  There  was, 
too,  a  room  overhead  for  smoking,  which  you 
entered  by  climbing  up  a  narrow,  ladder-like  stair- 
case, and  where  the  fragrant  Havana  could  be 
enjoyed  in  security.  Double  doors  and  windows 
kept  out  the  excessive  cold,  and  a  good  stove 
plentifully  supplied  with  wood  made  the  temper- 
ature within  all  that  was  to  be  desired.  The 
buffets  on  the  road  could  not  be  excelled,  and  a 
table  d'hote  dinner  was  taken  at  one  of  the  stations 
about  six  o'clock,  which  offered  a  glittering  array 
of  glass  and  silver  as  you  entered  on  leaving  the 
train,  while  the  display  of  viands  alone  would 
tempt  one,  were  he  not  ravenous  with  travel. 

The  occupants  of  the  car,  in  an  easy  fellow- 
feeling  way,  soon  get  acquainted  with  each  other, 
and  throwing  off  the  reserve  they  might  other- 
wise have,  mix  together  in  democratic  freedom. 
Their  nationalities  are  soon  known,  if  not  their 
names,  for  there  is  always  one  man  aboard  who 
has  a  knack  of  finding  them  out  and  of  commun- 


102  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND    SOCIETY 

icating  adroitly  his  information  to  the  others, 
and  stories  of  travelling  adventures  in  different 
countries,  with  accounts  of  the  queer  persons  met, 
and  the  dangers  escaped,  beguile  the  hours. 

St.  Petersburg  is  entirely  a  modern  city,  and 
a  modern  city  like  other  European  capitals,  or, 
rather,  like  the  modern  parts  of  them.  The 
stranger  going  there  expects,  very  naturally,  to 
see  predominant  the  stamp  of  Muscovite  nation- 
ality but  he  does  not  find  it,  as  the  principal  public 
buildings  were  designed  by  foreign  architects,  and 
show  plainly  traces  of  the  country  from  which 
the  brain  that  gave  them  birth  has  come. 

Moscow,  fortunately,  is  quite  different,  and  is 
well  worthy  of  being  the  place  where  the  Tsars 
are  crowned.  Any  one  who  dropped  down  there 
blindfold  would,  as  soon  as  the  bandage  was 
removed  from  his  eyes,  cry  out  like  the  soldiers 
of  Napoleon's  army,  as  its  green  roofs  and  gilded 
cupolas  met  their  anxious  gaze,  "Moscow,  Mos- 
cow ! ' ' 

No  city  in  the  world  has  a  more  marked  style, 
which  is  neither  of  the  East  nor  of  the  West,  but 
rather  suggestions  of  both.  Constantinople,  Venice, 
Vienna,  all  can  be  seen  in  part,  and  as  you  look 
at  it  calmly,  in  awe  and  admiration,  you  can  only 
say,  "This  place  is  unique,  it  resembles  nothing 
else,"  and  you  know  why  it  is  so,  in  reflecting  that 
here  is  the  old  homestead  of  the  great  Slavonic 
race,  a  race  sufficiently  different  from  all  others 
to  be  well  warranted  in  leaving  one  typical  city 
as  a  monument. 

First  Letter  from  Moscow. 

To  my  mother  from  Moscow  I  wrote  as  follows: — 
I  cannot  date  this  as   there   is   no  French   paper 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  103 

about,  and  also,  what  with  the  Russian  and  our 
difference  in  the  calendar,  time  is  considerably 
mixed  up.  This  cannot  be  better  shown  than 
by  the  agreeable  fact  that  we  have  two  Christmas 
Days  this  year,  one  which  we  passed  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  the  other  which  comes  next  week,  when 
we  are  to  see  a  real  German  Christmas  tree  at  the 
Carnatzes. 

Well,  then  to  begin,  Mrs.  Appleton,  we  are  now 
in  Moscow,  a  truly  Russian  city,  and  as  different 
to  St.  Petersburg  as  Boston  is  to  Paris.  We  left 
St.  P.  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  after  a  journey 
of  hours,  with  several  Americans  in  the  train,  we 
arrived  here,  and  are  comfortably  established  in 
the  Hotel  Dusaux. 

I  first  went  to  find  Curtin,  my  old  classmate  and 
the  secretary  of  our  Legation,  who  was  much  sur- 
prised at  seeing  me,  and  said  he  would  do  his  best 
possible  to  make  our  stay  pleasant.  We  then 
called  on  my  cousin  Eliza  Carnatz,  and  had  no 
difficulty  in  finding  her  and  making  ourselves 
known,  and  she  was  delighted  at  seeing  her  rela- 
tives and  appreciated  your  present,  which  I  am 
happy  to  say  has  finally  reached  its  destination 
safely.  This  picture  (The  letter-head  showing  a 
colored  view  of  the  Kremlin.)  will  do  for  your 
scrap  book,  so  I  will  leave  it  entire. 

In  the  evening  Curtin  took  us  to  a  Russian 
party,  and  I  think  I  passed  about  the  pleasantest 
evening  there  in  Europe.  It  was  at  the  house  of 
General  Behring,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  one 
who  discovered  the  Straits,  and  the  soiree  began 
with  private  theatricals  in  Russian  and  French, 
afterwards  dancing,  then  the  mazourka,  then  a 
sit  down  supper,  the  universal  custom  at  parties 
here,  and  finally  the  cotillon,  something  as  with 
us,  and  home  between  four  and  five. 


104  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

The  General  received  us  with  charming  cordi- 
aUty,  and  would  make  us  believe  we  were  doing 
him  a  favor  in  coming,  and  his  lovely  daughters, — 
their  mother  being  dead, — acted  well  in  the  plays, 
and  did  the  honors  of  the  house  most  gracefully. 

There  were  several  pretty  Russian  young  ladies 
there,  and  many  were  the  sentiments  and  toasts 
for  the  friendship  between  Russia  and  America, 
the  two  great  rising  nations  of  the  world! 

The  young  ladies  here  nearly  all  speak  English 
well,  besides  French,  German,  Russian,  and  also, 
sometimes,  Italian.  This  is  true  of  many  of  the 
young  men,  too,  and  although  this  seems  to  make 
us  very  ignorant,  still,  in  the  matter  of  general 
education,  the  classics,  philosophy,  mathematics, 
etc.,  I  imagine  we  are  their  superiors.  Moreover, 
languages  are  almost  a  necessity  here,  while  with 
us  they  are  only  a  very  desirable  luxury. 

Wednesday  p.  m. :  The  day  after  the  ball  we 
did  not  rise  much  before  dinner  time,  when  we 
dined  with  the  Carnatzes.  The  party  consisted 
of  Coz.  Eliza  and  husband,  Mr.  Watson,  the 
father  of  his  first  wife,  a  brother,  a  French  lady 
friend,  and  one  or  two  others.  It  seemed  quite 
natural  there,  as  there  were  several  family  por- 
traits on  the  walls,  and  her  album  was  filled  with 
photographs  of  all  of  us.  We  had  a  quietly 
pleasant  evening,  with  long  chats  about  Russia 
and  America,  family  events,  literature,  politics, — 
and  drank  tea  indefinitely. 

Russian  Tea-drinking. 

Tea  is  the  national  drink  of  the  Russians,  and 
a  genuine  tea-drinking  restaurant  is  very  curious. 
We  went  to  one  the  other  evening  which  is  the 


DRINKING   TEA. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  105 

resort  of  the  isvoschiks  (cabbies)  and  the  peasants. 
Your  true  Russ  orders  a  pot  of  tea  and  another 
larger  one  of  hot  water,  the  latter  of  which  is  often 
replenished,  and  he  will  sit  over  it  several  hours, 
drinking  fifteen  or  twenty  cups  of  tea,  and  not 
finishing  until  he  can  get  no  more  color  out  of  it. 
What  do  your  delicate  nerves  think  of  this  ? 

The  tea  is  wonderfully  good,  and  the  commonest 
stuff  here  would  put  to  the  blush  the  very  best 
hotel  article  in  America  and  much  of  that  you 
have  at  family  tea  parties  also. 

Yesterday  morning  we  went  with  Mr.  Young, 
a  very  pleasant  and  attentive  young  American 
from  Niagara,  who  has  been  here  several  years  in 
the  business  of  agricultural  implements,  to  see 
the  Kremlin,  and  all  the  big  bells  therein,  which 
are  truly  wonderful,  and  can  make  much  noise 
when  they  try,  and  in  the  evening  to  the  Carnatz's 
box  at  the  ballet  of  the  Grand  Theatre.  The 
building  is  considered,  perhaps,  the  finest  in 
Europe,  and  the  ballet  itself  as  is  always  in  Rus- 
sia, remarkably  fine.  After  the  ballet  Charlie  and 
I  went  to  a  ball  at  the  KosakofE's,  where  we  had 
a  good  idea  of  a  fine  Moscow  house  and  the  Mus- 
covite hcau  moride.  Dancing,  supper,  music,  etc., 
and  finally  I  had  for  my  partner  in  the  German 
cotillon  the  prettiest  girl  in  Moscow,  a  Miss  Mar- 
tinoff. 

Fast  Trotters  in  Moscow. 

We  went  out  today  to  the  race  course,  where 
they  often  have  races  in  sleighs,  and  saw  the  sports 
of  Moscow  exercising  their  fast  trotters.  The 
scene  was  very  like  ours  at  home,  and  we  con- 
versed on  the  relative  inerits  of  Russian  and  Amer- 


106  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

ican  trotters,  and  one  enthusiastic  old  Russ  wanted 
to  bet  two  hundred  thousand  roubles  on  his  coun- 
try, so  that  if  I  buy  and  import  "Dexter"  (The 
fastest  trotter  of  the  time.)  I  can  make  a  goodly 
sum. 

Snow  Hills. 

The  snow  hills  are  a  national  institution  on  the 
same  principle  as  our  coasting,  only  the  hills  are 
artificial  and  are  all  ice,  and  you  take  a  lady  on 
the  sled  with  you,  and  dash  down  like  the  wind. 
There  are  two  hills  opposite,  so  that  they  go  from 
one  to  the  other  and  then  return. 

Remembrance  to  all, 

Nate. 

The  Carnatz  Connection. 

My  diary  when  a  boy  of  fourteen  had  the  fol- 
lowing entry: — "January  16,  1858.  Our  Russian 
cousin  sent  us  some  nice  things;  among  them  were 
a  malachite  pin  and  sleeve  buttons,  and  one  of 
the  medals  thrown  to  the  peasants  at  the  corona- 
tion of  the  present  Emperor  Alexander." 

My  mother's  mother,  Mrs.  Jesse  Sumner,  was 
a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Coffin,  whose  son 
Thomas  estabHshed  himself  in  business  in  Mos- 
cow about  1829,  and  died  in  Perovo,  Russia,  in 
1832.  His  daughter  Eliza  married  Mr.  Carnatz, 
a  German.  In  1S70,  we  received  the  intelligence 
that  they  proposed  to  remove  to  Dresden. 

The  Carnatz  Children. 

Nothing  has  ever  shown  me  more  conclusively 
how  easy  it  is  for  children,  when  very  young,    to 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  107 

learn  and  speak  several  languages,  than  my  expe- 
rience with  my  little  Carnatz  cousins.  Of  course 
being  Russians  by  birth,  that  may  naturally  have 
been  their  first  language,  but  their  mother,  who 
insisted  upon  being  an  American,  the  country  of  her 
father,  had  them  at  once  instructed,  probably  by 
herself,  in  the  English  tongue.  Then  her  husband, 
their  father,  being  a  German  the  language  of  the 
Fatherland  had  its  proper  place.  After  that  came 
French,  which  was  the  cosmopolitan  language  of 
all  well-to-do  people  in  the  Russian  empire.  They 
coidd  rattle  off  these  various  languages  "as  easily 
as  rolling  off  a  log,"  and  so  can  any  one  who  begins 
them  in  childhood. 

A  Russian  Mansion. 

A  good  type  of  the  elegant  Russian  mansion 
was  large,  made  of  wood  and  only  two  stories, 
with  a  long  array  of  rooms  running  en  suite.  At 
the  door  stood  the  ever  watchful  porter,  ready 
to  take  the  shubes  and  overshoes  of  the  guests, 
and  never  forgetting  to  whom  each  belonged, 
resplendent  in  his  showy  livery  with  the  eagles 
embroidered  in  the  wide  border  of  his  cape,  look- 
ing the  picture  of  comfort  as  he  stood  by  the  blaz- 
ing fire,  the  thermometer  outside  showing  a  tem- 
perature well  below  the  zero  of  Fahrenheit. 
Beyond  him,  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  a  huge, 
stuffed  black  bear  stood  erect,  in  his  paws  a  salver, 
with  a  pitcher  and  glasses,  as  if  bidding  you  wel- 
come to  the  hospitalities  of  the  house. 

The  City  and  its  Environs. 

We  went  on  many  excursions  in  the  city  and 
its  environs.     The  Kremlin,  with  its  endless  inter- 


108  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

esting  objects,  the  churches  so  numerous  that  they 
say  there  is  one  for  every  day  in  the  year,  and 
the  old  historical  monuments  from  which  can  be 
gleaned  a  knowledge  of  all  the  phases  from  bar- 
barism to  civilization  through  which  the  vast 
Muscovite  nationality  has  passed,  were  carefully 
and  intelligently  studied.  We  would  ramble  for 
hotirs  through  the  curious  bazaar,  the  Gostinny 
Dvor,  gazing  at  the  different  wares  exposed,  talk- 
ing and  bargaining  with  the  shrewd  Jew  shop- 
keepers, and  picking  up  many  curiosities,  from 
Persian  talismans  to  Siberian  rugs,  which  had 
found  their  wa}''  to  this  cosmopolitan  mart  in 
boats  through  the  Caspian  Sea  and  up  the  curving 
Volga  River,  or  in  caravans  all  along  the  dreary 
plains  and  through  the  steep  mountain  ranges, 
from  the  interior  of  China  and  Hindostan.  Mal- 
achite from  the  mines  in  the  Ural  Mountains, 
fragrant  packages  of  high-priced  tea,  chain-armor 
from  Circassia,  and  quaint  Albanian  gems,  gorgeous 
colored  silks,  pipes  of  every  description,  in  short, 
a  perfect  medley  of  bric-a-brac,  we  hunted  up 
leisurely,  sending  daily  some  newly  discovered 
treasure  to  our  collections. 

Trotting    in    Russia. 

The  trotting  during  the  winter  months  takes 
place  on  the  ice,  when  a  large  river  or  pond  is 
accessible;  as,  for  instance,  on  the  Neva  itself  at 
St.  Petersburg,  which  is  the  favorite  place  of  all. 
But  a  well  made  track  on  the  frozen  snow  is  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  as  good,  and  this  can  be  found  and 
laid  out  anywhere.  The  course,  which  is  one  or 
two  versts  long, —  the  Russian  verst  is  3501  Eng- 
lish feet, —  is  in  the  form  of  an  ellipse;  that  is,  the 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  109 

length  of  two  of  the  curving  sides  is  much  greater 
than  that  of  the  other  two,  as  is  often  seen  in 
American  tracks,  where  a  long  and  narrow  piece 
of  ground  only  can  be  obtained.  But  now  comes 
the  great  peculiarity  of  the  Russian  race,  which 
is,  that  the  horses  do  not  start  or  trot  together. 
One  starts  from  a  line  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the 
long  sides  of  the  course,  while  the  other  starts 
from  a  line  exactly  opposite  and  on  the  other  side. 
Should  there  be  four  horses  entered  they  have  two 
parallel  tracks  close  to  each  other,  and  for  six 
horses  three  of  these  ellipses,  and  so  on.  When 
there  is  more  than  one  track  the  effect  is  most 
peculiar:  for,  at  the  signal  for  starting,  the  horses 
all  seem  to  be  rushing  off  in  different  directions. 

Then,  too,  the  horses  all  start  from  a  standstill, 
each  one  toeing  the  line  before  the  word  "go"  is 
given.  Of  course,  in  this  system,  there  is  not  the 
excitement  of  seeing  the  horses  together,  changing 
places,  now  one  ahead,  and  now  another;  those  who 
break  held  in,  and  all  trying  to  secure  and  keep 
the  pole  from  the  others.  They  merely  trot  round 
the  course  at  their  greatest  speed  and  the  one 
which  returns  to  his  goal  or  starting  point  first, 
is  declared  the  winner.  In  case  of  breaking,  a 
certain  number  of  steps  at  a  gallop  only  is  allowed 
during  the  heat,  and  any  horse  that  is  not  brought 
down  into  this  alloted  number  is  thrown  out  of 
the  races  by  the  judges,  and  loses  his  chance.  It 
is  common  to  have  a  running  horse  by  the  side 
of  the  trotter  to  excite  him  to  his  utmost  speed, 
but  generally  this  horse  is  not  harnessed,  but  is 
mounted  by  a  skillful  rider,  who  keeps  close  along- 
side of  the  other,  knowing  exactly  the  pace  at 
which  he  can  go  without  breaking. 

The  sleighs  used  are  very  light,  seemingly  made 


no  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

of  some  kind  of  basket-work,  and  also  very  low, 
the  driver  being  seated  not  more  than  a  foot  off 
the  ground  or  snow,  bracing  himself  with  his  feet 
in  a  sort  of  stirrup  on  either  side.  Low  vehicles 
are  also  used  for  racing  on  the  gravel  track,  and 
primitive  they  are  in  appearance,  a  narrow  board 
supported  on  the  axles,  with  four  small  wheels 
nearly  the  same  size,  and  the  American  two- 
wheeled  spider-sulky  has  come  into  use,  as  the 
small  wheeled  vehicles  detract  from  the  speed,  on 
account  of  a  badly  regulated  centre  of  gravity  and 
excessive  friction. 

For  getting  the  greatest  pulling  power  out  of 
the  horse  with  the  least  fatigue,  and  leaving  all 
the  muscles  unimpeded  and  in  full  play,  the  Rus- 
sian method  of  harnessing  is  excellent.  The  shafts 
of  the  drosky  or  sleigh,  the  collar  of  the  horse  and 
the  duga  meet  at  one  point  on  the  horse's  shoulder, 
and  at  this  point  is  all  the  strain  of  pulling.  There 
are  neither  traces  nor  breeching  to  interfere  with 
the  action.  The  collar,  made  of  wood,  is  care- 
fully fitted  to  the  horse's  neck,  and  while  the  shafts 
are  inclined  to  press  it  against  the  neck,  the  duga 
exerts  a  corresponding  pressure  out  on  either  side, 
and  these  three  parts  of  the  harness  are  so  lashed 
together  by  leather  thongs  that  they  remain  firmly 
in  place,  and  it  is  a  rare  sight  to  find  a  horse  with 
his  neck  galled  from  exercise. 

The  horses  are  put  on  the  track  very  young,  at 
the  age  of  two,  three  or  four  years,  and  after  that 
time,  are  found  rather  to  lose  than  increase  their 
speed.  Perhaps  there  may  be  peculiarities  in  the 
breed  which  gives  them  their  greatest  strength 
when  young,  or  it  may  be  the  climate  brings  out 
forces  which  in  milder  regions  it  takes  more  time 
to  develop.     Certain  it  is  that  the  Russian  horse, 


A    COURSIER. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  HI 

of  which  the  Orloff  is  the  handsomest  type,  when 
taken  to  a  foreign  country  soon  loses  his  grace  of 
action  and  fire.  At  home  they  are  the  beau  ideal 
of  beauty,  with  great  natural  knee  action,  arching 
necks,  distended  nostrils  and  flashing  eyes,  but  it 
has  often  happened  that  the  same  horse  which 
would  attract  the  attention  of  every  passer  by  on 
the  Nevski  Prospect,  when  seen  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  or  Hyde  Park  has  lost  his  distinguishing 
traits  and  seems  but  an  ordinary  animal. 

As  there  is  always  a  question  as  to  the  beauty 
of  "banging"  the  horse's  tail  in  accordance  with 
the  English  taste,  or  of  leaving  the  natural  growth 
as  was  more  common  in  America  some  years  ago 
than  at  present,  I  would  state  that  the  tail  in  Rus- 
sia is  left  as  nature  made  it,  long  and  waving,  and 
sometimes  even  trailing  on  the  ground.  And  for 
another  disputed  question,  whether  or  not  it  is 
beneficial  to  clip  the  horse  in  winter,  without 
touching  on  the  numerous  arguments  which  human- 
ity, convenience  and  preference  have  brought  plaus- 
ibly up  on  either  side,  I  will  simply  say  that  in 
Russia  it  is  the  universal  rule  to  leave  the  horses, 
whether  they  be  for  work  or  for  pleasure,  with  the 
long-haired  coat,  God  has  given  them,  untouched 
all  through  the  months  when  they  need  some  pro- 
tection against  the  cold. 

To   Harness   a   Horse   a   la   Russe. 

First  put  on  the  bridle,  which  is  merely  a  head- 
stall without  blinders.  Saddle  and  surcingle  to- 
gether. Collar  and  breeching  together.  Put  the 
horse  in  the  shafts  and  put  on  the  hoop,  strap- 
ping the  shafts  and  hoop  together  with  a  long 
strap,  which  is  afterwards  wound  around  the  shafts. 


112  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

There  is  a  strap  on  each  shaft  just  opposite  the 
saddle.  The  one  on  the  left  shaft  goes  over  the 
saddle,  passing  through  rings,  and  is  wound  around 
the  right  shaft.  The  one  on  the  right  shaft  goes 
through  loops  under  the  surcingle  and  is  wound 
around  the  left  shaft.  These  straps  help  to  keep 
the  shafts  firmly  in  place.  The  horse  pulls  from 
his  collar.  The  ends  of  the  shafts  and  hoop  must 
just  meet,  the  hoop  going  inside  of  the  shafts  and 
pressing  them  out.  Of  the  four  straps  from  the 
top  of  the  hoop,  two  go  under  the  check  strap  and 
fasten  to  the  bit  ring,  and  the  other  two,  with  the 
loops  through  which  the  reins  pass,  are  fastened 
to  the  shafts,  behind  the  hoop.  The  bit  should 
be  simple  snaffle. 

The  running  horse  is  on  the  left  side.  A  strap 
goes  from  his  bit  to  the  shaft  of  the  wheeler,  pass- 
ing through  the  martingale  ring.  This  strap  is 
quite  long,  and  gives  him  considerable  play.  The 
rein,  only  one,  goes  from  the  outside  ring  of  the  bit. 

For  a  pair  of  horses  there  are  no  saddles.  The 
traces  are  fastened  to  leather  rings  on  the  collar. 
A  surcingle  is  fastened  on  the  traces  and  passes 
under  each  horse,  close  behind  his  forelegs. 

They  always  drive  with  four  reins  but  this  is 
useless. 

The  ridiculous  custom  of  having  blinders  over 
the  horse's  eyes  is  unknown  to  the  Russians, 
except  as  imported  from  other  countries.  The 
animal  is  allowed  to  see  for  himself  on  all  sides, 
pleasant  or  ugly  sights,  and  is  not  treated  like  an 
infant,  whom  his  human  doctors  suppose  is  going 
to  be  frightened  at  what  may  meet  his  gaze.  Sen- 
sible both  for  horse  and  man  is  this,  as  the  former 
doubtless  derives  pleasure  in  his  way  from  the 
sights  of  the  street  or  the  scenery  of  the  country. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  113 

while  the  latter  enjoys  seeing  what  is  one  of  the 
finest  points  of  a  horse  —  his  eye. 

Check  reins  are  happily  not  a  part  of  the  Rus- 
sian harness. 

The  men  who  congregate  about  the  race-course 
are  pretty  nearly  the  same  types  in  all  the  nations 
of  the  world.  There  are  the  elaborate  dandies, 
known  as  petits  creves  in  France,  who  go  because 
it  is  the  fashion  to  see  and  be  seen,  whether  or  not 
they  have  any  taste  for  the  racing  itself,  and  can 
tell  one  horse  from  another.  There  are  gentle- 
men who  really  are  devoted  to  the  noble  animal, 
who  are  interested  in  improving  the  breeds,  and 
who,  if  possessed  of  fortune,  generally  have  some 
of  their  own  stock  taking  part  in  the  races.  Then 
comes  the  sporting  fraternity  of  all  degrees,  horse 
dealers  sharp  for  making  a  good  bargain  in  buying 
or  selling,  trainers,  jockeys,  stable  boys  and  besides 
them  plenty  of  loafers  who  are  there  for  betting 
on  the  race,  or  for  "  turning  an  honest  (?)  penny" 
in  any  way  that  their  wits  suggest. 

Letter  to  my  Mother. 

Moscow,  Dec.  27,  1866.  This  is  dated  by  the 
Russian  calendar,  which  is  just  twelve  days  behind 
ours,  so  you  can  calculate.  I  have  a  few  minutes 
before  going  to  dine  with  Cousin  Eliza  to  begin 
this  and  I  will  dip  promiscuously  into  some  of  the 
events  of  the  past  week. 

The  Christmas  Tree. 

Let  me  see, —  Christmas  has  come  and  gone  for 
the  second  time  this  year,  and  we  have  seen  the 
way  it  is  done  in  Russia.     It  is  the  same  old  story — 


114  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

a  tree,  arbre  deNoel, —  everywhere,  though  the  cus- 
tom has  been  brought  here  by  the  Germans. 

We  went  to  the  Carnatzes  about  half-past  seven, 
and  they  being  German  of  course  all  the  arrange- 
ments were  a  la  mode  Allemande.  The  tree  always 
comes  off  Christmas  eve,  and  is  generally  a  family 
gathering,  gotten  up  especially  for  the  amusement 
of  the  little  ones.  A  large  tree  just  like  ours  at 
home,  greeted  our  gaze  on  entering,  placed  on  a 
table,  brilliantly  lighted,  covered  with  all  kinds  of 
things,  bonbons,  gold  balls,  etc.,  topped  off  with 
an  American  flag  in  compliment  to  us.  The  pres- 
ents were  all  lying  around  on  tables,  and  the  tree 
remains  untouched  for  a  week,  so  that  poor  chil- 
dren can  come  in  and  enjoy  it  on  different  days. 

Charlie  and  I  were  not  forgotten,  and  we  received 
each  a  portfolio  filled  with  different  views  of  Mos- 
cow. 

Every  guest,  on  leaving,  also,  takes  a  huge  box 
filled  with  almonds,  sugar  plums,  cakes,  etc.,  etc., 
quite  enough  to  make  you  ill  for  a  week.  The 
party  was  not  very  large,  and  we  broke  up  just 
before  midnight  to  go  to  the  French  Catholic 
church  to  hear  the  mass,  but  the  place  was  jammed, 
and  we  did  not  stay  long.  Charlie  and  I  then 
jumped  into  our  sleigh,  and  the  great  bells  of  the 
Kremlin  and  the  neighboring  churches  were  boom- 
ing all  around. 

The  Patriarchal  Cathedral. 

We  wended  our  way  up  the  hill  and  pushed  into 
the  Patriarchal  Cathedral  of  Russia,  where  all  the 
Tsars  are  crowned,  and  here  we  saw  the  Russian 
mass.  The  crowd  was  so  dense  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  penetrate  more  than  a  few  feet  into  the 
church,  and  we  soon  left. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  115 

The  Russian  Bath. 

One  evening  last  week  we  did  the  Russian  bath. 
It  is  perfectly  delicious,  a  general  steaming  all  over 
first,  and  then  you  are  bodily  champooed  by  the 
careful  attendant, —  the  soap  suds  being,  so  to 
speak,  whipped  in  with  a  bunch  of  rushes  flour- 
ished round  you,—  and  then  recline  at  your  ease, 
as  long  as  you  please,  and  finally  cool  off  with 
differently  moderated  showers  of  water. 

We  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr.  Amoldi, 
who  has  a  charming  wife.  He  is  a  great  lover  of 
horse  flesh,  and  took  us  over  a  stable,  where  we 
saw  splendid  specimens  of  the  different  types  of 
the  Russian  horse,  and  afterwards  we  went  to  the 
trotting  track  and  saw  the  sports  with  their  fast 
trotters.  The  scene  was  not  unlike  Riverside 
Park  at  home,  and  very  interesting  to  me.  They 
want  to  get  up  international  races. 

We  afterwards  dined  with  Mr.  A.,  quite  en  fam- 
ille. 

The  Mazourka. 

We  have  been  to  another  party  at  the  aunt's 
of  my  lovely  Miss  M — ,  and  I  again  watched  her 
going  through  the  graceful  slides  of  the  mazourka. 

There  are  two  public  balls  every  night  now  dur- 
ing the  holidays,  sometimes  a  masquerade  at  the 
Nobility  Club  or  the  Grand  Opera,  or  again  a 
dance  or  concert  at  the  German  Club,  and  so  on, 
but  the  masquerades,  after  Paris,  are  tame. 

The  holidays  are  much  made  of  here,  and  every 
one  celebrates  them  by  getting  tipsy,  for  the  Rus- 
sian, besides  his  everlasting  tea,  also  manages  to 
dispose  of  considerable  vodki,  the  alcoholic  drink 


116  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

of   the   country.      (Spelled   vodki   and  vodka,    dis- 
tilled from  rye,  also  from  potatoes.) 

To  a  hard  working  Yankee  it  is  odd,  the  slow- 
ness and  want  of  ambition  of  all.  For  instance, 
Sunday  is  a  holiday,  and  the  day  before  he  pre- 
pares himself  for  it,  and  the  day  after  he  gets  sober, 
and  as  there  is  on  the  average  one  fete  day  during 
the  week,  when  the  same  game  is  tried,  it  does  not 
leave  many  days  for  work. 

Off  to  St.  Petersburg. 

Thus  you  see  the  days  slip  along  on  golden  wings, 
and  your  ftdneur  looks  with  horror  on  the  bore  of 
packing  up  his  traps,  but  we  may  be  off  on  Satur- 
day to  St.  Petersburg.  I  have  your  letter  No.  11, 
with  the  Boston  gayeties.  I  will  get  you  some 
nice  postage  stamps  some  time,  but  for  the  pres- 
ent these  will  suffice.  Accept,  also,  the  photo- 
graph of  Chawls  and  myself  a  la  Russc,  with  the 
Kremlin  in  the  background,  and  us  in  the  front, 
done  up  in  our  shubes  and  boots,  and  waiting  the 
approach  of  many  bears.      (See  frontispiece.) 

Fear  not  for  our  ears  and  noses  now,  for  although 
the  thermometer  keeps  down  steadily  in  the  region 
of  "  Niblo  "  (Meaning  zero,  an  old  joke  of  First 
Lieutenant  Peleg  W.  Blake  of  the  Fifth  Mass. 
Battery,  who  when  speaking  of  the  weather  always 
called  zero  "  Niblo,")  we  are  much  more  comfort- 
able in  the  streets  than  we  are  at  home,  where  it 
seems  to  be  the  fashion  to  be  cold  always  out  of 
doors. 

The  photographs  of  Moscow  are  the  best  in  the 
world.  (I  had  never  seen  such  beautifully  glazed 
ones  at  that  time.)  We  do  not  get  much  news 
here  about  Americans,  as  there  is  no  French  paper 


*^'         '  *                          .^PBhfc 

-    ""^-^^--^s^ 

^^^^^^^^     3W-.       »||Q|g^v^<H^B^^S^V^^^H^^^^^| 

THE    STAIGG    PORTRAIT. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  117 

in  Moscow,  and  even  if  there  were  there  would  be 
no  time  to  read  it,  we  are  in  such  a  whirl  of  excite- 
ment. Going  to  bed  at  four  gives  you  a  short 
morning. 

I  read  the  President's  (Johnson's)  message  with 
interest,  and  great  satisfaction  in  regard  to  every- 
thing except  the  internal  politics  of  the  United 
States.  How  pleasant,  too,  is  the  report  of  the 
Treasury.  People  here  look  upon  our  diminishing 
debt  with  perfect  amazement.  Indeed  the  influ- 
ence which  our  country  is  giving  to  the  world  is 
more  perceptible  every  day  and  very  noticeable 
here. 

We  are  of  course  much  interested  in  the  great 
yacht  race,  and  want  brother  Tom  to  come  over 
in  the  Spring,  and  give  the  graceful  little  Alice 
another  wetting  in  the  Channel.  Tell  him  she 
must  not  go  home  in  May.  I  want  to  sail  in  her 
once  in  the  summer.  What  a  carnival  there  will 
be  in  Paris,  and  how  much  nicer  to  be  a  "swell" 
in  Moscow  than  an  individual  in  the  former. 

Well,  adieu.  Nate. 

From  My  Mother  in  Boston. 

The   Staigg   Portrait. 

Dec.  27,  1866. 
You  can  judge  of  my  amazement,  my  excite- 
ment, on  going  up  to  the  drawing-room  after 
dinner  on  Christmas  Day,  to  find  before  my  eyes 
a  portrait  of  you,  my  dear  Nathan,  gracefully 
standing  with  your  arm  holding  the  bridle  of  vour 
horse,  and  looking  so  like  life  that  I  really  started, 
reading  the  announcement,  put  on  by  Hattie: — 
"By  Atlantic  Telegraph,  St.  Petersburg.     A  Merry 


118  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Christmas!" — Why,  I  felt  that  it  had  actually- 
come  from  there !  It  is  a  charming  picture.  What 
a  villain  you  are!  Of  course  it  is  not  finished, 
and  is  to  go  back  to  have  some  alterations. 

Oh  you  sly  boy!  Coming  up  from  Lynn  (Our 
summer  home  at  the  beach.)  every  day  to  give  me 
this  delightful  surprise!     /  thank  you. 

We  had  a  charming  Christmas  dinner,  and,  will 
you  believe  it?  the  presents  for  the  third  time  were 
so  hid  they  had  great  difficulty  in  finding  them, 
and  some  were  obliged  to  be  told. 

New  Year's  Day  in  Moscow. 

Russ.,  January  2,  1867. 
I  begin  you  this,  Dear  "Mum,"  from  Moscow, 
but  I  may  finish  it  in  St.  Petersburg.  Children 
of  chance,  that  we  are,  how  dare  we  calculate  on 
even  the  events  of  a  few  days?  With  this  moral 
question  at  the  beginning,  I  will  tell  you  that  we 
are  still  here,  and  have  been  through  various 
adventures.  Among  others  was  the  dedication 
of  a  church  in  the  Russo  Greek  style,  and  the 
magnates  of  the  city  thought  we  had  better  see 
it.  I  did  not  object,  as  a  dinner  formed  an  import- 
ant feature.  Accordingly,  one  of  the  selectmen 
of  Moscow  routed  us  out  of  bed,  and  I  gave  him 
audience  in  my  robe  de  nuit,  and  after  he  had  con- 
versed some  time  in  Russ  he  thought  matters 
would  be  expedited  by  an  interpreter.  I  soon 
discovered  that  his  sleigh  was  at  the  door,  and 
that  he  wanted  us  to  be  off,  so  I  hastened,  and 
was  ready. —  Charlie  following  in  our  sleigh  with 
Curtin. — He  wore  a  medal  and  his  horse  was  a 
high  stepper.  We  soon  reached  the  church,  and 
had  standing  places  of  honor,  vide  Moscow  Gazette 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  119 

of  the  next  day  with  our  distinguished  names  in 
Russian  print, — for  above  three  and  a  half  hours, 
and  we  were  not  sorry  to  rattle  off  to  the  good 
dinner,  which  the  opulent  merchant,  who  had 
given  the  church,  had  had  prepared  for  his  guests. 
The  lunch  was  stunning,  entirely  a  la  Russe,  with 
some  little  wrinkles  I  mean  to  remember,  and  the 
menu  on  very  gorgeous  frosted  paper,  and  a  photo- 
graph of  the  church  under  each  plate.  We  returned 
from  our  day's  work  very  much  satisfied. 

The  society  of  this  place  is  quite  funny.  We 
have  got  into  the  very  "swell"  little  clique  of  the 
town,  the  Faubourg  Saint  Beacon  Street  of  Mos- 
cow, and  like  the  same  set  in  our  own  blessed 
"Hub,"  it  is  a  close  oligarchy  with  an  endless 
array  of  cousins.  The  other  evening  we  saw  a 
most  pretty  phase  of  the  holidays.  About  twenty 
young  ladies  and  cavaliers  of  this  set,  with  one  or 
two  matrons,  went  round  the  town  in  masquerade 
with  fancy  domino  costumes,  stopping  at  half  a 
dozen  different  houses,  at  each  of  which  they  would 
dance  once,  with  a  supper  later.  Chawls  and  I 
went  to  two  of  the  houses  to  see  them  and  the 
effect  was  stunning;  a  postillion  rushing  in  first, 
and  then  the  others  following  in  couples,  Poles, 
Spaniards,  and  Tartars,  Folly,  a  Cook,  a  Baby  and 
her  Nurse,  &c..  and  so  on.  The  coachman  and 
footman,  even,  were  in  mask,  to  make  the  disguise 
as  complete  as  possible,  but  we  soon  discovered 
our  friends. 

I  think  we  will  try  it  in  Boston  next  winter. 

The  society  of  the  merchant  families  is  quite 
another  set,  but  as  they  have  the  money  now  their 
entertainments  are  on  a  most  gorgeous  scale. 


120  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

New  Year's  Day. 

After  all  how  like  people  are  in  all  countries. 
This  is  well  shown  by  yesterday,  the  Russian  New 
Year's  Day.  We  got  up  a  very  "swell"  trap, — a 
trotter  and  a  runner  by  his  side, — and  went  about 
slaughtering  all  our  acquaintances.  It  was  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  in  New  York,  except  that  they 
gave  you  no  grub  anywhere,  nor  wine,  though  we 
did  see  one  inebriate  youth  driving  off.  Every 
one  always  drives  about  the  city  and  you  get  into 
the  state  of  being  unable  to  walk  ten  steps.  You 
wo'n't  do  it.  Sleighs  are  very  cheap,  and  the  dis- 
tances are  very  great,  so  that  you  keep  your  sleigh 
about  you  as  an  indispensable  companion,  from 
twelve  noon  until  after  midnight.  The  coachman 
follows  you  round  like  a  dog,  merely  going  off  to 
feed  his  horses  some  time  in  the  afternoon.  With 
all  this  it  is  strange  that  the  Russians  never  drive 
themselves,  and  no  matter  how  fine  the  horses  of 
the  gay  youth  of  the  city,  and  how  elegant  his 
equipage,  the  coachman  always  drives.  Perhaps 
this  is  because  horses  are  a  necessity,  not  a  luxury, 
and  having  to  drive  so  much  every  day  you  do  not 
care  to  do  it  yourself.  I  think  I,  myself,  with  all 
my  fondness  for  horses,  would  soon  be  indisposed 
to  drive  in  Russia. 

The   Russian    Groom. 

The  "swell "  groom  here  has  a  chic  quite  his  own, 
and  totally  different  from  the  London  "tiger," 
which  has  spread  over  the  rest  of  the  continent 
and  America.  My  "Tom,"  with  his  neat  tights 
and  top  boots,  carefully  trimmed  whiskers  and 
square    shoulders    is    very    different    from    your 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  121 

bearded  Russian  coachman,  the  stouter  the  better, 
with  lozenged-shaped,  pin-cushion  like,  velvet  hat, 
long  tunic  with  a  gorgeous  colored  sash  and  big 
boots.  They  drive  with  both  arms  stretched  out 
at  full  length,  and  have  four  reins  for  a  single  pair 
of  horses. 

Tuesday,  p.m.:  I  will  finish  this  off  now  and 
take  it  on  with  me  to  St.  Petersburg,  tomorrow, 
to  mail  it  there,  as  we  have  decided  to  change  our 
base,  in  fact,  having  slaughtered  all  the  fair  ones  of 
Moscow,  and  having  left  a  good  impression,  it  is 
much  better  to  make  our  bows  and  retire  quickly. 

I  have  been  skating  today  and  yesterday  with  a 
most  bright  and  attractive  young  lady,  the  Princess 

G (Princess   Julie   Gagarine    now    for    years 

Madame  la  Princesse  Ourousoff,  one  of  the  same 
great  family  represented  at  the  Races  on  the  New- 
port beach  in  1866.)  a  cousin  of  the  beautiful  Miss 

M .   Being  in  mourning  we  have  not  seen  her  in 

society.  She  goes  to  St.  Petersburg  in  a  few  days 
where  we  shall  meet  her  again. 

We  go  to  our  last  party  tonight.  Private  theat- 
ricals and  a  ball  afterwards.  Last  evening  a 
soiree  ninsicale  at  the  Martinoffs,  and  a  dance  later 
at  another  house. 

We  go  to  St.  Petersburg  to  be  quiet  (?)  as  you 
imagine,  and  we  shall  arrive  just  in  time  for  the 
"Blessing  of  the  Neva,"  breakfast  at  the  Winter 
Palace,  Review  of  Troops,  etc.,  etc.,  and  from  now 
until  Lent  we  shall  have  all  we  want  of  gayety. 

Adieu,  oh  Moscow !  with  thy  Kremlin  and  gilded 
turrets,  thy  fair  princesses,  thy  fast  horses,  thy 
caviar  and  thy  mazourka.  Fain  would  we  linger 
here,  but  the  hand  of  time  points  onward,  and  the 
vague  sensation  of  joys  now  past,  vibrates  in  the 
brain ! 


122  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

I  have  some  little  packages  for  you  and  Hattie 
from  Coz.  Eliza,  which  will  I  hope  reach  you  safely 
some  day.     I  am  off  now  to  bid  her  good  bye. 

Nate. 

From  My  Sister  in  Boston. 

January  8,   1867. 

Your  letter  from  St.  Petersburg  arrived  by  the 
same  steamer  that  brought  Mr.  Burgess  and  little 
Billy's  blue  suit,  for  both  of  which  many  thanks. 
I  wish  you  could  see  the  little  man  in  the  jacket 
and  cap,  he  looks  awful  cunning,  and  the  color  just 
suits  his  complexion.  They  are  just  the  right  size, 
and  all  beholders  say  "How  remarkable  that  a 
young  man  like  Mr.  Appleton  should  know  just 
what  to  get  for  a  baby  like  that! " 

The  worsted  work  for  the  old  lady  was  also  a 
great  success.  She  thinks  it  the  funniest  thing  she 
ever  saw.  And  all  this  page  and  not  a  word  yet 
about  the  picture! 

The  Staigg  Portrait.    The  Surprise. 

I  took  Elias   (The  old  family  servant.) 

into  the  secret,  and  he  was  so  important,  and  so 
excited  with  it  that  I  never  expected  he  would  get 
through  waiting  on  table  that  dinner,  without 
smashing  something.  You  know  we  got  it  into  the 
house  very  quietly,  during  church  time,  and  hid  it 
on  the  back  piazza,  and  Elias  got  it  up  into  the 
drawing-room  while  we  were  eating  dinner,  and 
coming  down  made  such  telegraphic  signals  that 
Erny  (Ernest  Longfellow)  who  was  next  me,  said, 
"What  has  come  over  Elias?  he  is  winking  and 
making  such  faces  at  you.  There's  some  immense 
secret!" 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  123 

As  I  had  not  my  "eyes"  on  it  was  unfortunately 
thrown  away.  When  Mamma  did  get  up  and  saw 
it,  she  was  fairly  terrified,  apparently  thinking  you 
were  there  yourself  in  some  incomprehensible  way. 
I  don't  know  but  she  will  pull  down  "Rosalie"  to 
have  a  place  to  hang  it.  Brother  Tom  takes  a 
great  interest  in  it,  and  brings  artists  to  see  it,  who 

mostly   think  it   Staigg's   best  work Dear 

me.  I  have  not  told  you  about  the  piano  we  are 
having  constructed  to  match  our  book  cases,  and 
with  Mr.  Staigg's  first  sketch  of  you  inserted  in  a 
panel,  —  truly  lovely! 

On  the  11th  My  Mother  Wrote:  — 

Your  brother  Tom  has  just  been  in  to  read  a 
letter  from  Charlie.  He  was  quite  excited  in  hear- 
ing about  Russia,  and  really  wished  he  was  with 
you  to  enjoy  something  so  new.  He  would  have 
been  a  great  addition,  and  talked  French  and  made 
everything  as  jolly  as  possible.  He  hopes  that 
you  have  made  known  that  you  were  officers  in  the 
army  and  wounded  men,  and  I  trust  it  is  under- 
stood that  C.  A.  L.  is  son  of  the  "great  poet. " 

Your  letters  stir  us  all  up,  and  though  this  is  not 
a  regular  writing  day,  I  could  not  resist  telling  you 
how  much  we  enjoy  hearing  from  you. 

The  "presentation"  must  have  been  rather  a 
trial,  not  speaking  French  fluently.  How  T.  G.  A. 
would  have  rattled  it  off !  He  rather  wonders  that 
he  came  home.  Of  course  the  yachting  will  take 
him  out  in  the  Spring.  We  have  now  fine  sleigh- 
ing, and  he  is  every  day  on  the  Brighton  road,  but 
not  a  "fascinating  hood"  is  to  be  seen;  all  the 
women  with  veils  tied  tight  over  their  faces.  T.  G. 
A.  drives  his  pair  and  has  some  damsels  with  him. 


124  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

Monday  Eve:  Little  Billy  (Curtis)  came  to  see 
his  Grandma  this  morning  in  full  French  costume; 
his  pretty  blue  coat  and  hat,  and  Astrachan  fur. 
It  is  lovely  and  very  becoming  to  the  little  man. 

All  are  so  charmed  with  your  picture.  It  gives 
life  and  light  to  the  old  house.  I  cannot  bear  to 
part  with  it,  and  I  believe  Staigg  does  not  consider 
it  finished. 

I  am  glad  you  have  nice  quiet  apartments,  and 
are  not  at  a  hotel.  Please  be  moderate,  and  do  not 
dash  about  and  make  yourself  conspicuous.  It  is 
foreign  to  the  family  name. 

Letter  from  Geo.  B.  Shattuck. 

My  dear  Nathan.  "  Boston,  January  8,  1867. 

A  visit  to  No.  39,  a  few  days  since,  and  the 
exhibition  of  your  portrait  by  Staigg,  spurred  me 
up  to  an  undertaking  which  I  have  long  been  pro- 
posing to  myself,  answering  a  letter  which  you 
wrote  to  me  before  your  departure  and  after  mine 
from  San  Francisco,  and  which  was  forwarded  to 

me   here I   was   much   pleased   with   your 

picture,  and  thought  it  an  excellent  likeness  for  the 
number  of  sittings  I  was  told  you  had. 

Of  course,  as  is  the  duty  of  a  good  artist,  he 
exerts  his  best  effort  that  your  personal  pulchritude 
may  not  suffer,  and  the  war-horse,  etc.  is  rather  in 
the  style  of  General  Washington.  You  ought  to 
have  had  your  negro  "Joe"  brought  into  the 
picture  holding  the  charger.  The  horse,  as  well  as 
I  could  judge  from  a  short  inspection,  is  well  done, 
and  surprisingly  so,  if,  as  Mrs.  Appleton  told  me, 
this  is  Staigg's  first  horse.  I  speak  so  at  length  as 
I  suppose  the  thing  to  have  been  completed  since 
you  left  home." 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  125 

Allston's  Rosalie. 

The  picture  of  "  Rosalie  "  by  Washington  Allston, 
mentioned  in  my  sister's  letter  as  hanging  in  the 
drawing-room  at  39  Beacon  street,  and  to  which 
the  author  addressed  some  exquisite  verses,  became 
mine  after  the  death  of  my  father,  at  whose  request 
it  was  painted. 

It  was  in  1835,  that  my  half-sister,  the  wife  of 
the  poet  Longfellow,  then  Miss  Frances  Elizabeth 
Appleton,  made  a  copy,  which  I  now  have  in  her 
own  handwriting,  of  the  following  verse  which  was 
added  by  Allston  some  time  after  the  original  three 
verses  were  composed :  — 

"So,  at  that  dreamy  hour  of  day 
When  the  last  lingering  ray 
Stops  on  the  highest  cloud  to  play, 
So  thought  the  gentle  Rosalie, 
As  in  her  maiden  reverie. 
First  fell  the  strain  of  him  who  stole 
In  music  to  her  soul.  " 

The  original  three  verses  are  as  follows :  — 

"Oh!  pour  upon  my  soul  again 
That  sad  unearthly  strain 
That  seems  from  other  worlds  to  plain; 
Thus  falling,  falling,  from  afar, 
As  if  some  melancholy  star 
Had  mingled  with  her  light  her  sighs, 
And  dropped  them  from  the  skies. 


No  —  'tis  not  bom  of  aught  below. 
That  melting  breath  of  wo 

Which  now  doth  o'er  my  spirit  flow; 
Waking  the  deeply-seated  springs 

Of  silent  joy ;  that  round  me  flings 

This  nameless  light  —  if  light  it  be  — 

That  veils  the  world  I  see. 


126  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

For  every  form  around  me  wears 

The  hue  of  other  spheres: 
And  something  mixed  of  smiles  and  tears 
Comes  from  the  very  air  I  breathe. 
Oh,  nothing,  sure,  the  stars  beneath 
Can  mold  a  sadness  like  to  this  — 

So  like  angelic  bliss.        — Wa.  Allston. 

These  three  verses  have  the  signature  as  given 
above,  in  the  copy  in  my  possession.  To  the 
peculiar  circumstances  under  which  the  picture  was 
painted,  an  allusion  is  made  in  a  letter  to  my 
brother  Tom  in  Paris,  by  Mr.  Tom  Kemper  Davis 
in  Boston,  a  member  of  the  legal  profession  with  a 
strong  leaning  toward  literary  pursuits. 

Thomas  Sully. 

"Sully,  the  artist,"  he  wrote,  "is  in  town.  I 
went  with  him  yesterday  and  bowed  at  the  shrine 
of  the  divine  'Rosalie'.  Sully's  first  exclamation, 
after  gazing  some  time  at  the  picture,  was,  — 

'Raphael   and  Titian   combined!' 

Allston,  by  the  way,  has  in  conversation  with  me 
frequently  alluded  to  your  father's  purchase  of  this 
picture,  and  as  I  never  heard  him  allude  before  to 
any  like  transaction.  The  manner  in  which  the 
thing  was  done  seems  to  have  touched  his  heart. " 

When  they  went  to  see  it,  the  picture  hung  in  the 
drawing-room  of  our  old  house,  39  Beacon  street. 
That  the  artist  Sully  may  have  had  a  personal 
interest  in  the  "Rosalie,"  was  suggested  to  me  by 
a  letter  from  the  pen  of  a  Washington  correspond- 
ent of  the  New  York  Daily  Graphic,  signed  "Mary 
E.  Nealy,"  which  I  chanced  to  see.  I,  being  then 
in  London,  addressed  a  letter  to  this  correspondent 
from  449  Strand,  the  Reading  Room  and  Exchange 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  127 

of  Robert  Bowles,  dated  October  26,  1875,  in  the 
following  words :  — 

"I  noticed  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Graphic,  a 
letter  of  yours  from  Washington,  in  which  you 
gave  quite  a  long  account  of  a  collection  of  pictures 
painted  by  Sully.  My  attention  was  attracted  to 
it  by  what  you  say  of  'Rosalie',  and  the  verses 
written  by  AUston,  because  I  am  the  owner  of  the 
painting  of  'Rosalie',  which  Washington  Allston 
painted,  and  for  which  he  wrote  the  verses. 

This  picture  was  painted  for  my  late  father  and 
hung  by  the  direction  of  Allston  himself  at  our 
house,  where  it  has  remained  many  years,  the 
admiration  of  all.  Should  you  ever  go  to  Boston, 
I  think  it  will  give  you  pleasure  to  see  it. 

I  always  supposed  that  the  name  was  merely  a 
fancy  one,  but  what  you  say  of  Allston 's  intimacy 
with  Sully  and  his  family,  makes  me  believe  that 
quite  probably  the  name  was  taken  from  one  of 
Sully's  daughters,  and  as  such  it  may  even  be  a 
sort  of  portrait  of  her.  " 

I  closed  by  asking  for  further  information  in 
regard  to  the  original  of  the  picture,  and  received 
the  following  reply :  — 

Mary  E.  Nealy  to  N.  A. 

618  Sixth  Street,  Washington  City,  D.  C. 
Nov.  18,  1875. 
Your  letter  of  enquiry  in  regard  to  the  portrait  of 
"Rosalie "  by  Allston  was  duly  received.  Colonel  Wheeler 
does  not  know  about  it,  and  Mrs.  Wheeler,  formerly  Ellen 
Sully,  being  married  before  her  sister  Rosalie  was  grown, 
does  not  know  that  the  verses  were  inspired  by  her  sister, 
but  thinks  it  highly  probable,  as  Mr.  Allston  admired  her 
very  much.  She  was  very  beautiful,  as  well  as  talented, 
but  died  at  an  early  age.  Mrs.  Wheeler  could  tell  you 
certainly  about  your  picture  if  she  could  see  a  photograph 
of  it. 


128  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

I  will  be  happy  to  call  and  see  the  picture  if  I  ever  go  to 
Boston,  and  thank  you  kindly  for  the  privilege  and  the 
invitation.  I  have  been  intensely  interested  in  his 
pictures,  and  think  that  few  artists  ever  created  more 
lovely  female  heads.  I  have  an  old  annual  called  The 
Gift,  published  in  Philadelphia,  in  1842.  On  the  title  page 
is  a  lovely  vignette  head,  which  Col.  Wheeler  says  is 
Rosalie  Sully.  If  I  could  send  it  to  you  without  spoiling 
my  book  I  would  do  so.  But  the  more  simple  way  would 
be  for  you  to  photograph  your  painting. 

P.  S.  This  is  a  handsome  and  youthful  brunette,  with 
a  spirited  yet  most  lovely  and  womanly  expression.  Her 
hand  svipports  her  head,  and  the  dark  rich  curls  fall  care- 
lessly about  her  face.  Sully  painted  his  daughters  in 
many  positions  and  in  various  characters,  and  many 
female  heads  of  his,  supposed  to  be  imaginary,  are  por- 
traits of  his  own  loved  ones.  " 

The  Gift,  edition  of  1842,  is  in  the  Boston 
Athenaeum  Library.  The  second  picture  on  the 
title  page  really  does  look  like  "Rosalie"  but 
younger. 

Allston  died  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  July  9,  1843. 
Mrs.  Jameson,  the  English  author,  in  her  Memoir 
of  Washington  Allston,  January  1,  1844,  gives  the 
following  description:  — 

"  'Rosalie  Listening  to  Music. '  The  figure  of  a  young 
girl,  life-size  and  three-quarters.  She  has  been  reading. 
The  hand  which  holds  the  book  has  dropped:  the  other  is 
pressed  on  her  bosom.  The  head  a  little  raised.  Rapt, 
yet  melancholy  attention  in  the  opening  eyes  and  parted 
lips.      The  coloring  deep,  delicate,  rich. 

When  I  first  saw  this  picture,  in  the  drawing-room  of  Mr. 
Appleton  of  Boston,  I  had  never  seen  Allston,  did  not  even 
recollect  his  name.  It  at  once  so  captivated  my  attention, 
that  I  could  not  take  my  eyes  from  it,  even  though  one 
who  might  well  have  sat  for  a  Rosalie  was  at  my  side.  I 
thought  I  had  never  beheld  such  a  countenance,  except  in 
some  of  the  female  heads  of  Titian  or  Palma.  Yet  the 
face  was  not  what  would  be  termed  beautiful;  and  oh,  how 
far  from  the  sentimental,  ringletted  prettiness  of  our 
fashionable  painters! 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  129 

When  I  afterwards  asked  Mr.  Allston  whether  his  poem 
of  'Rosalie'  had  suggested  the  picture,  or  the  picture  the 
stanzas,  he  replied,  that,  'as  well  as  he  could  recollect,  the 
conception  of  the  poem  and  of  the  picture  had  been 
simultaneous  in  his  mind. '  He  received  for  this  picture 
1,200  dollars,  about  £250." 

The  "Rosalie"  was  exhibited  at  the  Philadelphia 
Centennial  Exposition  in  1876,  and  a  lithograph 
was  published  by  James  R.  Osgood  &  Co.,  Boston, 
in  a  collection  entitled  "Massachusetts  Artists' 
Centennial  Album,  1876. "  The  description  is  as 
follows :  — 

"This  picture  was  painted  in  1835.  It  represents  a 
beautiful  girl  seated,  facing  the  spectator,  with  one  hand 
upon  her  bosom,  and  the  fingers  of  the  other  between  the 
leaves  of  a  red  book  which  she  holds  upon  one  knee.  A 
piece  of  dark-brown  drapery  thro\\Ti  across  the  lap  nearly 
hides  the  blue  of  the  skirt."  The  waist  of  the  dress  is  of 
gray,  with  white  sleeves,  and  is  bound  to  the  form  by  a 
yellow  girdle.  The  background  is  a  dull  red  curtain  with 
a  gray  column  at  the  left.  The  picture  is  owned  by  Mr. 
Nathan  Appleton.  The  illustration  is  a  heliotype  "made 
from  the  original.  " 

I  loaned  it  for  some  years  to  the  Boston  Museum 
of  Fine  Arts,  and  in  1893,  it  was  exhibited  at  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago.  I 
afterward  sold  it  to  my  brother  W.  S.  Appleton, 
and  it  is  now  at  462  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 

My  Brother  Tom  and  Allston. 

Letter  from  T.  G.  A.  to  Mrs.  Samuel  Appleton. 

31st  August,  1844. 

Ashby  de  la  Zouch. 
I  have  been  a  week  with  Lady  S.  and  her  husband 
Mr.  Smith  Wright,  not  far  from  here.     Ladv  S.  is 
famous  for  her  taste  in  flowers.     Her  conservatory 


130  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

is  superb,  and  her  white  "yackas"  unrivalled. 
She  has  a  sister  Hke  "ma  chere  Mire"  in  Miss 
Bremer,  with  a  wonderful  face  for  energy.  She  is 
87,  but  quick  as  a  girl,  a  very  clever  botanist  as 
well,  and  corresponding  with  all  the  best  botanists 
in  England.  I  drove  and  rode  and  walked  over 
the  country;  magnetized  a  little,  and  drew  a  little, 
and  so  the  hours  flew.  The  Everetts  were  there  a 
bit,  and  then  flew  to  Scotland.  To  show  how  kind 
a  man  Mr.  Smith  Wright  is,  —  he  it  was  at  Rome 
who  got  the  Protestant  burial  ground  enclosed,  and 
did  away  with  the  burial  by  torchlight  of  old  time. 
He  is  president  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute  at 
Nottingham.  I  shall  hope  to  see  these  excellent 
friends  again.  I  am  the  first  American  who  ever 
visited  them. 

Yesterday  Lady  S.  drove  me  to  Sir  George  Beau- 
mont's, wishing  herself  to  see  Allston's  picture,  I 
had  so  interested  her  in  him.  On  the  way  there 
she  told  me  how  odd  a  person  the  present  Sir 
George  was,  —  the  nephew  of  the  famous  art 
patron,  —  He  received  us  at  his  superb  porch  in  a 
iDlouse,  with  a  funny  white  hat  on,  and  was  in  great 
spirits  to  see  us.  .  .  .  He  took  us  over  the  fine 
house,  a  miracle  of  taste,  as  was  everything  of  his 
uncle's,  and  at  length  into  a  glass  conservatory-like 
gallery  he  had  built  to  hold  the  over  abounding 
pictures.  Here  were  all  the  first  good  things  of 
Wilkie,  Leslie,  etc.,  which  Sir  George  bought  to 
encourage  the  young  artists,  but  Sir  G.'s  own 
sketches  were  as  interesting  as  any,  and  as  good. 
The  last  one  he  was  upon  when  he  fell  with  apo- 
plexy was  peculiarly  so.  It  represented  boys 
playing  over  water  upon  a  fallen  tree,  and  every 
figure  was  in  danger.  Sir  G.  considered  this  very 
curious,  so  anticipating  his  own  situation. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  131 

I  mentioned  Allston.  He  jumped.  "I'll  show 
you  a  picture  of  his,"  —  and  he  ran  for  the  key. 
It  is  in  a  lovely  gray  stone  church,  close  to  the 
house,  a  sort  of  guardian  angel  to  the  place. 

Allston 's  picture  is  the  only  one  in  the  church. 
It  is  the  one  he  often  spoke  to  me  about.  It  is  ill 
placed,  and  ill  lit,  but  wonderfully  fine.  An  angel 
in  white  with  sky  blue  scarf  fluttering,  points, 
while  standing  on  the  steps,  to  the  prison  door  with 
a  radiant  hand,  while  Peter  lifts  a  majestic  face, 
heavy  with  sleep,  upon  the  Angelus  from  between 
his  bent  and  drowsy  guards. 

There  is  a  huge  patinc  of  moonlight  breaking 
through  the  grates  of  the  prison  above.  .  .The 
angel's  hair  is  nut  brown  and  a  little  too  pretty  for 
so  sacred  a  subject.  It  reminded  me  of  "  Rosalie's" 
which  is  womanly,  not  angelic.  The  figures  are 
life  size  and  the  picture  one  of  Allston's  fine  ones 
tho'  not  equal  to  the  "Jeremiah,"  "Miriam"  or 
"Balshazzar. " 

We  spent  hours  in  wandering  through  the 
grounds.  .  . 

Oh!  the  dairy,  you  should  see  that!  An  arched 
alcove,  all  tiles  above  and  below,  rows  of  huge 
cream  bowls  standing  upon  marble  slabs,  and  a 
fountain  coolly  splashing  from  an  antique  mask  at 
one  end.  This  gem  of  a  dairy  was  dead  Lady 
Beaumont's  doing. 

There  were  poems  of  Wordsworth  cut  in  stone 
about  the  walks.  He  was  a  great  friend  of  the 
former  Sir  George,  and  I  saw  a  stone  seat,  the  rock 
cut,  in  which  he  wrote  many  of  his  poems.  When 
one  thinks  of  this  lovely  place  and  the  great  men, 
Sir  George,  Allston,  Wordsworth,  and  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  —  this  is  one  of  the  family,  —  per- 
haps Shakespeare,  one  must  allow  this  to  be  almost 
unmatched  as  a  country  seat. " 


132  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

On  page  67,  of  brother  Tom's  volume  of  poems 
entitled  "Faded  Leaves,"  in  one  addressed  to 
Allston  after  seeing  his  "Peter  delivered  from 
Prison"  at  Colcorton  Hall,  in  Wordsworth's  winter 
garden,  may  be  found  the  following  stanzas :  — 

"A  portion  of  thy  soul  divine 
Is  fitly  shrined  in  yon  meek  aisle 
Where  arching  roofs  in  prayer  incline, 
And  chasten  all  the  silent  pile. 

Ah!  yes,  dear  Allston,  from  the  bars 
And  dungeon  of  this  mortal  sphere, 
At  length  thy  spirit  seeks  the  stars, 
Free  in  their  happier  atmosphere.  " 


From  My  Mother  at  Boston. 

"February  24,  1867. 

I  do  think  you  are  having  splendid  times.  The 
last  princess  seems  to  be  the  loveliest.  And  then 
the  furs,  and  the  slippers,  and  the  table  covers,  and 
the  malachite!     Oh,  what  a  boy! 

Mr.  Sayles  (Henry  Sayles)  and  Ned  Brown 
(Edward  Ingersol  Brown)  called  to  see  me  and  were 
so  much  pleased  with  your  picture.  (Staigg 
portrait.) 

They  were  told  you  really  sent  a  telegram  from 
St.  Petersburg  on  Christmas  Day,  and  thought  it 
so  like  you  to  do  it.  W.  S.  A.  is  in  pursuit  of  a 
second  pair  for  his  four-in-hand.  I  do  not  approve 
so  much  display. " 

In  another  letter  my  mother  observes  parenthet- 
ically :  —  "  You  must  remember  I  am  an  old  lady 
and  belong  to  the  old  school  of  manners  and 
propriety,  which  has  sadly  changed  since  my  day. " 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  133 


CHAPTER  SIXTH. 

ST.    PETERSBURG.       THE    NEVA.       NOVGOROD. 
POLAND. 

'  We  look  into  each  other's  eyes, 
And  see  a  friendly  peace  which  says, 
While  on  the  snowy  Cossack  flies, 
'  Rave  ye  without,  here  Quiet  stays.' 

This  silent,  unexpressed  delight 
Glows  brighter  so  severely  set : 
Heart-warm  against  the  stormy  white. 
The  Rose  of  Joy  bums  warmer  yet." 

— Thomas  Gold  Appleton 
A  Snow  Storm,  Jan.  17,  1867. 

The  Blessing  of  The  Neva. 

St.  Petersburg,  Jan'y  20,  1867. 
My  dear  Mama. 

Here  we  are  back  at  the  capital,  where  we  were 
most  enthusiastically  received  by  our  hostess 
Madame  Octavie,  who  expressed  great  joy  at  seeing 
her  "little  Americans"  safely  returned,  and 
installed  us  into  our  old  apartments. 

Your  letters  came  the  next  day,  with  accounts 
of  Christmas  festivities  at  home,  and  the  prospec- 
tive party  for  New  Year. 

I  am  so  glad  that  the  portrait  a  la  militaire  has 
been  accomplished  enough  to  show  what  it  is,  and 
that  the  likeness  is  good,  and  the  whole  thing  gives 
pleasure.  I  rather  pride  myself  upon  it,  for  the 
idea  of  the  composition  and  pose  was  quite  my  own, 
and  the  secrecy  with  which  it  has  all  been  done  is 
commendable. 


134  RUSSIAN  LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Driving  down  the  Nevski  from  the  Moscow- 
station  St.  Petersburg  looked  so  funny,  not  in  the 
least  like  a  Russian  city,  but  a  great,  sprawling 
capital,  and  they  tell  us  it  is  not  gay  here  at  all, 
especially  after  Moscow.  No  balls  at  Court  as  yet, 
as  the  government  is  not  very  rich  just  now,  and 
after  the  tremendous  expenses  of  entertaining  our 
fleet  last  summer,  and  later  all  the  gorgeous  display 
connected  with  the  wedding  of  the  Tsarevitch,  they 
are  really  trying  to  economize  a  bit.  This  is  good 
theoretically,  but  not  for  us  individually,  and  I 
hope  we  shall  see  one  big  ball  at  the  Winter  Palace. 

The  morning  after  our  return  was  the  day  of  the 
ceremony  of  the  baptism  of  the  Neva,  which  the 
Emperor  attends.  We  received  invitations  to  the 
Palace  to  go  with  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and 
although  we  could  not  see  much  of  the  performance 
outside,  —  and  how  the  poor  fellows.  Tsar,  priests, 
and  "strikers  "  have  to  suffer  with  uncovered  heads 
in  the  bitter  cold,  —  we  got  a  very  good  idea  of 
the  male  portion  of  the  Russian  court  in  the  Palace, 
and  afterwards  enjoyed  an  excellent  breakfast. 
It  was  quite  striking  to  see  us,  the  only  two  civil- 
ians in  the  big  throng  of  officers,  courtiers  and 
diplomats,  and  it  was  a  pleasant  feeling  that  the 
grandeur  of  America  does  not  go  in  for  outside 
display. 

We  dined  yesterday  at  the  English  Club  with 
Curtin,  the  best  one  in  the  city,  and  English  only 
in  name,  and  later  played  Russian  nine-pins  with 
a  party  of  officers. 

I  skated,  also,  on  the  Neva  Club  grounds,  which 
have  been  carefully  arranged  during  our  absence, 
and  it  was  very  jolly  there,  with  music  and  all  the 
swells  of  the  city.  The  costumes  are  very  effective, 
and  add  much  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  scene,  those 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  135 

of  the  gentlemen  being  quite  as  elaborate  as  of  the 
ladies,  velvet  jackets  and  tight  fitting  tunics 
trimmed  with  fur  and  slashed  d  la  Polenaise,  with 
Knickerbockers  and  leggings.  It  is  strange  that 
if  a  gentleman  with  us  should  attempt  to  wear  such 
a  costume,  elegant,  comfortable,  and  appropriate 
for  the  ice,  he  would  be  set  down  as  a  snob.  The 
democratic  principle  of  every  one  always  wearing 
the  same  style  of  raiment  on  all  occasions  may, 
perhaps,  be  good,  but  it  certainly  takes  away  much 
from  the  beauty  of  any  assemblage  of  human 
beings. 

The  ladies  were  much  as  in  New  York  or  Jamaica 
Pond,  with  the  addition  of  the  omnipresent  basilisk 
or  hood,  made  of  different  colored  cloth,  and 
trimmed  with  gold  or  silver  braid.  We  mean  to 
bring  several  of  them  home,  as  there  is  nothing 
prettier  or  more  genuinely  Russian  here  to  take 
away,  and  for  a  lady  to  wear  sleigh-riding  they  are 
perfect.  I  hope  to  see  some  of  my  own  on  the 
Brighton  road  next  winter. 

Today  was  held  the  first  race  of  the  season  on 
the  river,  but  it  was  so  very  cold  that  it  was  not 
particularly  amusing  to  witness.  The  horses  look 
fine,  parading  about  covered  with  Persian  blankets. 
Monday  morning.  Very  early !  We  start  in  a  few 
minutes  on  an  excursion  of  two  or  three  days  to 
Novgorod  the  Great,  once  the  capital  of  Russia, 
and  I  have  just  time  to  seal  this  up  without  finish- 
ing it.  Therefore  in  haste,  Nathan. 

Fox's  Mission  to  Russia. 

The  reference  in  my  letter  to  our  fleet  and  its 
presence  in  Russia  is  to  Fox's  mission.  On  the 
16th  of  May,   1866,  the  President  of  the  United 


136  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

States,  Andrew  Johnson,  signed  a  joint  resolution 
passed  by  Congress,  congratulating  the  twenty 
million  serfs  upon  the  providential  escape  from 
assassination  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  II.,  by  the 
hand  of  an  enemy  of  emancipation,  and  in  order  to 
give  additional  significance  to  the  act.  Congress 
selected  the  Hon.  Gustavus  Vasa  Fox,  assistant 
secretary  of  the  navy  during  the  entire  period  of 
the  war  for  the  Preservation  of  the  Union,  to  per- 
form the  delicate  mission  of  carrying  this  resolution 
to  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  He  was  sent  in  the  two 
turreted  monitor  Miantonomoh,  a  class  of  vessel 
which  had  never  before  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and 
the  Augusta  and  Ashuelot,  two  wooden  men-of-war, 
accompanied  the  Miantonomoh. 

August  6  (July  23)  1866,  the  fleet  arrived  in  the 
harbor  of  Cronstadt,  on  the  17th  the  Tsar  sent  the 
address  acknowledging  the  visit  of  Mr.  Fox,  and  on 
Saturday,  September  15  (3d)  Mr.  Fox  left  Saint 
Petersburg,  after  a  farewell  breakfast  given  on  the 
Russian  yacht  Rurik  at  which  Lieutenant  General 
Greig  said  in  a  speech  while  presenting  a  medal 
struck  in  memory  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
peasants :  — 

"He  will  see  on  it  the  likeness  of  our  blessed 
sovereign,  and  the  effigy  of  a  nobleman  and  of  a 
peasant. " 

A  narrative  of  this  mission  to  Russia  from  the 
Journal  and  Notes  of  J.  F.  Loubat  (Due  deLoubat) 
was  published  in  1873,  and  presented  to  me  in  New 
York,  by  the  author,  September  28th  of  the  same 
year. 

The  Ceremony  of  Blessing  the  Waters. 

In  some  notes  made  in  February,  1879,  and 
printed  in  the  Boston  Advertiser  under  the  title 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  137 

"Outre  Mer,"  I  referred  to  the  occasion  of  the 
annual  benediction  of  the  Neva,  a  rite  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  commemorative  of  the  baptism  of  the 
Saviour,  when  the  Tsar  takes  his  position  in  an 
open  chapel  built  out  on  the  quay,  and  the  ice 
below  having  been  broken  the  Metropolitan  blesses 
the  waters  and  the  cross  is  dipped  therein  three 
times :  — 

"It  takes  place  just  opposite  the  Winter  Palace, 
and  all  the  guests  witness  it  comfortably  from  the 
windows  of  one  of  the  large  rooms  of  the  palace, 
while  the  Tsar  and  the  priests  and  those  who 
actually  participate  in  it  have  to  go  out  with  bare 
heads  in  the  cold  and  take  some  of  the  water  from 
the  frozen  Neva,  which  they  can  only  get  through 
a  hole  made  in  the  ice.  It  is  principally  a  religious 
service,  with  rites  performed  upon  a  handsome 
platfonn,  with  a  canopy  above,  erected  for  it 
between  the  palace  and  the  water.  It  does  not 
last  long,  and  in  this  instance  the  Emperor  and  his 
suite  might  well  have  been  glad  to  get  out  of  the 
intense  cold  when  it  was  over. 

We  had  some  difficulty  that  day,  my  companion 
and  myself,  in  getting  up  to  the  door  of  the  Winter 
Palace.  We  had  our  cards  of  invitation  all  cor- 
rect, indicating  where  we  should  go,  and  we  sup- 
posed that  our  iiivostchik,  or  the  driver  of  the  sleigh 
we  used  every  day,  understood  it  perfectly.  But 
it  seems  he  did  not,  and  we  were  stopped  by  a 
mounted  soldier  to  whom  we  could  not  talk  a  word, 
while  we  brandished  the  card  before  him.  But  this 
did  not  work,  and  we  had  to  turn  back.  We  were 
at  our  wits'  ends,  determined  if  possible  not  to  miss 
the  sight,  and  I  suggested  that  we  should  drive  at 
once  to  the  United  States  Minister's  residence, 
General  Clay,  to  see  if  we  could  not  find  his  servant. 


138  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

or  some  one  who  would  act  as  pilot.  On  the  road 
we  met  our  commissionaire  whom  we  had  dis- 
missed at  the  hotel,  thinking  we  should  not  need 
him,  and  took  him  in  front  with  the  driver. 

"A  Friend  at  Court." 

As  it  was  then  rather  late  we  drove  up  to  the 
nearest  door  of  the  palace,  but  not  the  one  desig- 
nated for  us  to  enter  on  the  card.  There  we  met 
one  of  the  young  officers  of  the  imperial  household 
whose  acquaintance  we  had  made  at  our  regular 
presentation  to  the  Tsar  some  weeks  before,  and, 
explaining  to  him  our  dilemma  he  said  it  was  all 
right,  and  put  us  in  charge  of  a  chasseur,  who  was 
to  conduct  us  to  our  proper  places.  He  was  a 
gorgeously  dressed  fellow,  with  a  very  tall  plume 
in  his  hat,  and  slowly  took  us  along  through  the 
endless  salons  of  the  building,  which  were  filled 
with  people,  —  ladies  in  the  galleries,  —  and  at 
length  reached  the  room  set  apart  for  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  and  distinguished  strangers  who 
happened  to  be  in  St.  Petersburg,  where  we  had  a 
view  of  the  ceremonies.  " 

A  Cousinly  View. 

From  My  Cousin  at  Moscow  to  My  Mother. 

Moscow,  January  22,  1867. 
My  dear  Cousin. 

About  a  month  ago,  as  I  was  standing  at  the 
window,  I  saw  two  gentlemen  stop  at  our  door,  with 
very  English  faces  as  I  thought.  I  was  surprised, 
for  I  expected  no  visitors  from  abroad,  but  how 
much  greater  was  my  surprise  when  the  two  gentle- 
men were  introduced  as  Mr.  Appleton  and  Mr. 
Longfellow. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  139 

You  may  well  imagine  my  joy  at  seeing  some  of 
my  American  relations  at  last.  Their  stay  in 
Moscow  was  for  me  a  perfect  enjoyment.  I  had 
such  pleasure  in  seeing  them,  and  saw  them  as 
often  as  was  possible,  for  they  had  so  many  invita- 
tions from  all  sides  that  they  could  hardly  find 
time  to  answer  them  all:  they  went  very  much 
among  the  nobility. 

Nathan  admired  the  Russian  ladies  much  and 
teased  me  all  the  time  by  saying  he  would  marry 
a  Russian  Princess  or  a  Polish  countess.  I  said  I 
would  not  acknowledge  him  after  that,  he  must 
remain  constant  to  the  American  beauties.  He 
left  Moscow,  however,  with  the  firm  intention  of 
falling  desperately  in  love  with  the  first  fairy 
princess  he  met  in  St.  Petersburg.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, that  the  30  degrees  of  frost  we  have  at  the 
present  moment  will  freeze  his  heart  so  as  not  to 
admit  any  warmer  feeling  into  it,  and  prevent 
melting  away  those  he  brought  with  him  from 
America. 

You  may  well  think,  dear  cousin,  how  much 
Nathan  and  Charles  had  to  tell  us  about  you  all, 
and  it  seems  as  if  since  I  know  them  the  ocean  has 
disappeared  between  us,  and  we  are  brought  nearer 
to  each  other.  How  much  I  should  like  to  see  you 
and  know  you  all,  and  always  will  regret  not  to 
have  gone  over  to  Boston  during  the  three  months 
I  .stayed  in  Ostend,  some  twelve  years  ago.  I 
should  have  then  seen  our  dear  Grandmamma,  let 
me  call  her  thus,  dear  cousin,  for  she  was  to  me 
more  than  ever  an  aunt  could  be. 

How  much  I  value  the  beautiful  pin  you  sent  me 
is  needless  to  say.  Receive  my  warmest  and 
sincerest  thanks  for  this  kind  attention,  and  believe 
me,  dear  cousin,  that  I  shall  always  wear  the  pin, 


140  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

so  dear  to  me,  in  remembrance  of  our  dear  Grand- 
mamma and  of  yourself. 

How  do  you  like  Nathan's  and  Charles's  photo- 
graph in  their  furs  ?  (See  frontispiece.)  We  admire 
it  much,  and  I  claimed  one  for  my  album. 

Kiss  the  dear  baby  for  me.  I  sent  him  a  pair  of 
little  red  Russian  boots,  which  I  hope  he  will  be 
able  to  wear  by  the  time  they  reach  him. 

Good  bye,  dear  cousin,  write  to  me  sometimes, 
and  tell  me  something  about  our  travellers  that 
interest  me  much.     My  husband  begs  to  be  kindly 
remembered  to  you  and  your  dear  family. 
Most  affectionately, 

Eliza  Carnatz. 

Novgorod. 

To  My  Mother. 

Saint  Petersburg, 

January  28,  1867. 
Ma  chere  Maman. 

Our  little  trip  to  Novgorod  was  most  successful. 
We  went  down  the  railroad  about  70  miles,  to 
Tchudova,  and  there  took  the  troikas  and  the 
funniest  vehicle  imaginable,  in  which  you  lie  down 
on  the  hay  and  are  covered  up  with  felt  and  skins. 
We  made  our  forty-five  miles  in  a  few  hours,  arriv- 
ing at  the  town  in  time  for  supper  and  bed. 

The  next  morning  we  set  about  seeing  the  sights 
of  the  place,  which  are  very  few,  the  old  church  of 
St.  Sophia  and  the  modern  monument  celebrating 
the  1000th  anniversary  of  Russia. 

What  a  quaint  old  place,  with  its  Kremlin,  and 
its  white  yellow  churches,  and  everything  so 
Russian ! 

I  found  a  fascinating  antiquary,  who  would  have 


THE    MIDNIGHT    DRIVE. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  141 

driven  Billy  crazy,  in  his  gown  and  skull  cap.  He 
had  a  book  store  in  his  house,  with  curiosities  and 
minerals,  and  I  bought  a  Russian  missal  of  the  14th 
century  (I  afterwards  gave  it  to  the  Boston  Public 
Library.)  and  a  few  coins  and  odds  and  ends. 

The  Midnight  Drive. 

We  made  the  journey  home  by  night,  with  the 
mercury  near  zero,  and  cold  enough  it  was.  I  had 
two  pairs  of  gloves  on,  and  mittens  over  them,  and 
was  just  comfortable.  We  rattled  along  over  the 
snow,  with  a  bright  moon,  and  clear,  cold  stars, 
stopping  now  and  then  at  wayside  inns  to  drink  tea 
and  warm  up. 

Nothing  have  we  done  more  Russ  than  our  mid- 
night drive  from  Novgorod. 

Yesterday  we  dined  with  the  Count  Besborodko, 
the  one  who  owns  the  "swell"  palace  I  mentioned 
in  a  previous  letter.  The  dinner  was  good,  the 
company  gay,  the  Countess  charming,  and  never 
in  my  life  was  I  so  en  train  to  speak  French  easily. 
I  surprised  myself.  We  came  home  early,  changed 
our  dress,  and  went  for  a  little  while  to  the  fete  of 
the  Yacht  Club  Skating  ground,  which  was  bril- 
liantly illuminated  with  lanterns,  grottoes  of  ice 
with  Bengal  lights  thrown  upon  them,  stuffed 
bears,  pretty  toilettes,  etc.  etc. —  music. 

ISLA. 

But  even  this  was  not  enough  for  the  evening,  so 
off  we  go  to  Isla,  a  cafe,  theatre,  skating  ground 
combined,  a  few  miles  into  the  country,  where 
there  are  life  size  statues  made  of  ice  in  the  garden. 

Shall  we  go  to  the  bal  masque  at  the  Opera  House? 


142  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

No,  it  will  hardly  pay  to  put  on  our  funereals  twice 
the  same  evening,  so  go  to  bed  quietly,  and  good 
night ! 

Since  my  last  return  here  I  have  been  making 
many  purchases  preparatory  to  leaving  the  place. 

Your  beautiful  sables  have  been  selected,  paid 
for  and  packed  up,  and  I  hope  they  will  come  home 
in  safety. 

My  Circassian  Uniform. 

"  'Brave  in  battle,'  'eloquent  in  assembly,'  are  great 
titles  in  Circassia.  But  he  who  is  the  'most  hospitable' 
wears  the  brightest  crown  of  all.  ...  A  Circassian  is 
always  a  Circassian. " 

—  Colonel  Richard  Henry  Savage. 

"A  land  of  the  sword  and  spear,  of  the  chase  and  mighty 
woodcraft  —  Circassia.  "  — R.  H.  S.   1876. 

Letter  to  My  Mother  Continued. 

I  have  got  Master  Will  a  Circassian  overcoat  for 
winter,  and  myself  a  Circassian  uniform,  for  fancy 
balls  at  home,  very  handsome  and  effective  it  is 
too.  Charlie  has  had  a  Russian  dress  made  for  the 
same  object.  I  have  picked  up  in  the  Bazaar  some 
nice  things  in  the  way  of  arms,  —  pistols,  daggers 
and  swords,  and  am  looking  for  some  chain  armor. 
Today  I  bought  all  the  malachite  I  want,  a  few 
pretty  pieces  only.  My  Russian  harness  has  come, 
and  very  nice  it  is,  so  light  and  graceful.  Look  out 
for  me  on  the  avenue  next  summer  crying  "berages," 
Russian  for  "Look  out!"  "Take  care!" 

I  have  bought  you  a  lovely  Persian  table  cloth 
and  myself  a  cover  for  an  easy  chair  for  smoking. 

We  went  the  other  evening  to  see  the  Davenport 
Brothers,  who  are  here  now,  and  as  luck  would  have 


CIRCASSIAN    UNIFORM, 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  143 

it  I  was  drawn  by  lot  to  tie  one  of  them  in  the  box. 
Funny  that  way  out  in  Russia  they  should  be  tied 
up  by  a  fellow  countryman.  There  was  quite  a 
party  of  us  Americans  there,  and  we  chatted  with 
them  after  the  performance.  It  was  very  good  and 
just  what  I  have  often  seen. 

29th.  Morning :  —  I  have  just  received  a  big 
packet  of  letters;  among  them  one  from  Georgie 
Shattuck.  He  gives  me  a  very  good  idea  of  just 
what  is  going  on  in  Boston. 

Last  eve  we  were  again  at  the  Opera,  in  the 
Pierces'  box.  The  Barber  of  Seville —  I  have  often 
heard  it  —  with  an  ugly  prima-donna.  Tonight 
we  go  first  to  a  ballet,  "Meteora, "  and  after  to  a 
ball  at  Lady  Buchanan's  the  English  ambassadress, 
and,  perhaps,  at  two  o'clock,  to  a  costume  ball  at 
one  of  the  Clubs.  Saturday  next  is  my  birthday, 
and  I  am  to  give  a  gentlemen's  dinner  to  Russians 
and  Americans. 

I  have  many  things  here  which  are  not  com- 
pleted, and  I  want  all  my  purchases  well  packed 
up  and  directed,  before  I  leave  the  place,  and,  try 
as  hard  as  you  please,  it  is  difficult  to  accomphsh 
much  each  day. 

We  made  the  acquaintance  a  few  days  past  of 
the  Souworoff  family,  the  descendants  of  the  great 
old  fighter  whose  sabre  rang  all  over  Europe.  The 
young  princess  was  very  nice  and  jolly,  and  did  not 
like  it  that  her  mother  would  not  let  her  skate  and 
flirt.  The  old  party  was  eminently  proper  and  con- 
servative in  all  her  ideas,  and  reminded  me  of 
several  ladies  in  Boston  I  might  perhaps  mention. 

We  passed  one  evening  last  week  quietly  with 
Mr.  Prince,  as  he  was  very  desirous  we  should. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  this  summer?  Will 
quiet  Lynn  content  you,  or  is  it  Niagara,  Saratoga, 


144  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

or  Newport?  Go  in  for  a  house  there,  and  I  will 
come  home  by  the  first  of  August,  in  time  for  the 
season.  I  hear  the  Americans  are  cutting  great 
rigs  in  Paris.  Thank  Mr.  Burgess  for  me  for  the 
arrival  of  the  package.  Breakfast  being  ready, 
12  m.,  I  will  say  in  the  last  words  of  many  French 
comedies,  "a  table"  Nate. 

The  Costume  Ball  at  Delmonico's. 

"Send  me  a  dream  tonight, 
A  dream  of  the  boy-time  days, 
Stop  for  me  the  shuttle  of  Time 

That  ever  so  swiftly  plays  — 
A  dream  of  the  other  days, 
When  the  sky  was  ever  bright  — 
Unravel  the  warp  and  woof  of  years  — 
Send  me  a  dream  tonight.  " 

— Baltimore  American,  April,   1900. 

From  a  journal  of  a  visit  to  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  made  in  March  and  April,  1875,  I 
extract  the  following  written  in  my  den,  788  Broad- 
way, Room  16,  New  York,  April  11th:  — 

"Since  I  left  Boston,  nearly  three  weeks  ago,  I 
have  been  through  some  such  interesting  experi- 
ences that  I  must  certainly  record  them  in  my 
diary.  But  it  is  no  easy  thing  to  catch  them  as 
they  go  by,  so  rapid  a  life  do  we  lead  in  the  great 
cities  and  so  full  of  movement  is  the  time,  still,  I 
will  try. 

The  event  of  the  season  among  the  few  hundred 
persons  who  make  up  the  fashionables  of  New  York 
society,  was  the  Bal  Costume  given  at  Delmonico's 
by  thirty  gentlemen  on  Easter  Monday,  March  29, 
1875. 

I  was  invited  to  take  part  in  the  Oriental  Quad- 
rille gotten  up  by  Miss  Minnie  Stevens  (Daughter 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  145 

of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paran  Stevens,  and  afterwards  wife 
of  Arthur  Henry  Fitzroy  Paget.)  as  I  had  a  fine 
Circassian  officer's  dress,  which  I  had  had  made 
years  ago  in  Saint  Petersburg,  just  for  occasions  of 
the  kind. 

The  Sunday  before  the  ball  I  dined  at  Mr.  S.  L. 
M.  Barlow's,  No.  1  Madison  Avenue,  as  my  partner 
in  the  quadrille  was  to  be  Miss  Barlow,  and  it  was 
a  kind  attention  on  their  part  to  invite  me  to  dinner. 

The  other  guests  were  Mr.  Manton  Marble  and 
Mr.  Hurlburt  of  the  New  York  World,  one  of  the 
organs  of  the  Democratic  party.  These  gentle- 
men, with  Messrs.  Barlow,  Belmont  and  others, 
were  very  intimate,  and  all  leading  spirits  of  the 
Manhattan  Club. 

After  dessert,  I  took  occasion  to  say,  in  a  con- 
versation in  which  some  of  the  leaders  were  being 
discussed,  that  the  Democratic  party  to  succeed 
must  get  rid  of  many  of  its  old  planks,  which  would 
not  support  any  one  today ;  that  there  were  plenty 
of  young  fellows  like  myself  and  others,  who  had 
been  in  the  war,  and  were  now  growing  up  to  take 
part  in  public  matters,  who  could  not,  and  would 
not,  place  confidence  in  the  men  whose  record  had 
been  such  as  that  of  the  leaders  of  the  Northern 
Democrats,  the  last  fifteen  years. 

But  how  I  have  departed  from  the  ball ! 

Instead  of  describing  it  particularly  I  insert  here 
a  drawing  and  notice  of  it  from  Frank  Leslie's 
paper,  also  the  card  of  invitation,  etc.  (The 
illustration  represented  the  ball  room  with  the  ball 
in  progress,  showing  many  of  the  finest  costumes.) 

The  invitation  was  for  a  Bal  Costume  —  costume 
de  riguettr,  —  signed  by  H.  S.  Fearing,  secretary, 
and  the  time  was  nine  o'clock.  The  reverse  of  the 
card  bore  the  names  of  twenty-eight  gentlemen; 

10 


146  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

among  them  August  Belmont,  W.  W.  Astor,  and 
A.  Thorndike  Rice. 

The  representative  of  Frank  Leslie's  said  in  his 
report :  — 

"All  that  bright  flowers,  perfumed  air,  sweet  music, 
flashing  diamonds,  manly  beauty,  female  loveliness, 
elegant  costumes,  and  grace  and  refinement  could  con- 
tribute to  such  a  scene,  were  found  there One 

of  the  features  of  the  evening  was  an  Eastern  quadrille  of 
which  Miss  Stevens  of  Fifth  Avenue  was  queen.  The 
costumes  of  the  eight  forming  the  set  were  superb!" 

The  note  from  Miss  Minnie  Stevens  to  me  with 
regard  to  the  ball,  was  as  follows:  — 

' '  I  write  you  some  time  ahead  to  know  if  it  is  possible 
for  you  to  be  in  New  York  a  week  from  Monday,  that  is  to 
say,  the  Monday  before  the  balL  We  have  arranged  to 
dance  the  quadrille  at  our  place  on  that  evening,  for  you 
have  no  idea  how  little  any  one  knows  about  dancing  it, 
and,  as  the  audience  will  be  large,  it  would  be  very  mortify- 
ing to  make  several  mistakes  As  there  is  to  be  a  proces- 
sion formed,  we  have  also  to  know  our  partners  and  our 
places.  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  get  here  for  the  rehearsal 
on  Monday  the  22d  as  I  would  like  all  the  sixteen  to  come 
together.  I  am  in  despair  about  my  dress,  it  is  so  difficult 
to  get  up.  Hoping  soon  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
you,  I  am  sincerely  yours, 

Minnie  Stevens." 

This  was  the  handsomest  ball  of  the  kind  I  ever 
saw,  as  nearly  all  the  costumes  were  remarkable  for 
richness,  and  few  or  none  of  them  had  a  cheap  or 
tawdry  look.  The  march  in  of  all  of  us  who  took 
part  in  the  opening  quadrille,  was  a  brilliant  sight. 

Before  going  to  it  I  went  to  show  myself  off  in 
costume  at  the  Appletons',  3  Madison  Avenue,  and 
also  at  the  Beckwiths'  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  18th 
Street,  whence  I  escorted  Miss  Helen  Beckwith 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  147 

(Now  Mrs.  Dudley  Leigh.)  in  the  dress  of  a  Circas- 
sian slave  across  the  street  to  the  Belmonts',  where 
there  was  a  large  reception,  for  those  in  costume 
particularly,  for  the  benefit  of  the  invalid  daughter 
who  could  not  go  to  the  ball,  but  naturally  wanted 
to  see  the  people  and  the  dresses.  I  was  glad  to 
have  the  chance  of  paying  a  call  at  the  house.  Mrs. 
Belmont  looked  remarkably  well,  and  her  other 
daughter  (Now  Mrs.  Samuel  S.  Howland.)  too,  as 
pretty  as  possible  in  Pompadour  costume. 

At  the  ball  I  sat  at  a  supper  table  with  Mrs. 
Strong,  —  nee  Ruggles,  —  chatting  and  looking 
at  the  different  persons  as  they  passed  by;  also, 
with  Mis.  General  Barlow  nee  Shaw.  This  was  a 
quiet  and  comfortable  way  of  enjoying  the  fete. 
Then  I  danced  the  ''cotillon"  with  Mrs.  Kemys  — 
the  cotillon  which  was  led  by  Jimmy  Otis  with  all 
the  animation  of  twenty  years  before. 

Strolling  to  my  den  through  14th  street  and 
Broadway,  just  as  the  day  was  dawning,  I  got  into 
bed,  well  tired,  a  little  before  six  o'clock." 

Prom  Miss  Stevens  on  Receipt  of  the 
Photograph,   1877. 

"So  many  thanks  for  the  charming  photograph  just 
received.  It  was  very  kind  of  you  to  have  remembered 
me,  and  so  justly  divined  my  wish. 

The  '  Circassian  '  shall  join  its  companions  in  the  album 
of  the  oriental  quadrille.  We  are  going  to  England  some 
time  this  spring,  but  I  hope  only  to  return  for  the  summer 
at  dear  old  Newport,  which  we  all  must  acknowledge  has 
no  rivals.  " 

The  Loom  of  the  East. 

I  wore  my  Circassian  costume  again  at  my 
brother's  house,  10  Commonwealth  Avenue,  Boston, 


148  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

at  the  meeting  of  the  Bric-a-Brac  Club,  January 
17th,  1877,  when  I  read  his  paper  on  "The  Loom 
of  the  East"  (Fifth  chapter  of  "Windfalls"  by- 
Thomas  Gold  Appleton,  author  of  "A  Sheaf  of 
Papers,"  "A  Nile  Journal,"  "Syrian  Sunshine" 
etc.)  my  brother  suffering  from  a  fall  at  the  time. 

My  Twenty-Fourth  Birthday. 

From  My  Mother  in  Boston,  Sunday, 
Feb.  3,   1867. 

"Your  birthday  (February  2d)  was  not  for- 
gotten, and  as  I  sat  at  my  lonely  meal,  I  could  only 
wish  you,  my  boy,  many  years  of  happiness,  —  not 
the  giddy  enjoyment  of  the  present  hour,  but  solid 
days  of  reality,  when  the  heart  shall  be  satisfied, 
and  all  this  fascination  of  travel  and  society  shall 
have  lost  some  of  its  freshness,  and  you  will  not 
care  for  a  'spike'  team,  or  a  'four-in-hand'." 

The  Last  Letter  from  Russia  in  '67. 

St.  Petersburg,  February  3,   1867. 

Yes,  Mamma,  it  is  here.  We  are  off  tomorrow 
for  Warsaw.  We  leave  this  delightful  place,  with 
its  cold  climate  and  its  warm  hearts.  Willingly 
would  I  linger  here  a  week  or  two  more,  but  Charles 
is  resolute,  and  has  been  saying  for  the  last  few 
days  that  he  will  go  tomorrow,  and  can't  be  stopped. 

Our  boxes  are  packed,  our  bills  paid,  and  as  it 
would  be  quite  impossible  to  find  a  time  when  we 
would  not  like  to  stay  longer,  perhaps  it  is  as  well 
to  go  now  as  ever. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  149 

"20  AND  30  Below." 

It  is  mild  today,  but  the  four  days  before  have 
been  such  cold  as  I  never  experienced ;  the  mercury 
being  all  the  time  between  twenty  and  thirty  below 
the  zero  of  Fahrenheit.  In  fact  the  people  here 
say  they  have  not  had  such  a  snap  for  years.  We 
were  fortunate  not  to  get  frozen,  for  our  isvoschik 
was  in  a  continued  state  of  freeze,  —  which  he  did 
not  seem  to  mind,  —  notwithstanding  the  neck- 
kerchief  and  mittens  we  gave  him. 

The  intense  cold  interferes  little  with  your  life, 
and  wrapped  up  in  our  shubes  we  spend  the  day 
calling  or  shopping,  or  by  night  go  from  ballet  to 
ball  till  late  in  the  morning.  They  have  huge  fires 
built  in  front  of  the  Opera  House,  and  the  Winter 
Palace,  for  the  coachmen  to  keep  warm. 

Russian  Footmen. 

The  life  of  a  footman  here  is  odd  enough.  Their 
principal  duty  is  to  look  after  the  cloaks  and  over- 
shoes of  their  masters  and  mistresses,  and  they 
follow  them  about  all  day  and  night,  sitting  and 
sleeping  in  the  entries  of  private  houses  during  a 
visit  and  the  duration  of  a  ball,  and  in  the  foyer  of 
the  theatre  for  the  entire  performance  of  the  opera 
or  play. 

The  carriages,  too,  are  always  drawn  up  in  line 
at  the  theatre  or  ball,  and  stay  there  all  night 
instead  of  going  home  and  returning  at  a  certain 
hour.  What  would  the  tender  coachmen  and  hack- 
men  of  Boston  say  to  that,  who  do  not  like  to  wait 
half  an  hour? 

This  is  strange,  when  it  is  so  cold,  especially  fbr 


150  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

the  horses,  but  they  are  never  clipped,  and  the  men 
are  very  thickly  dressed. 

At  all  the  "swell"  houses  they  have  an  impres- 
sive flunkey  in  the  entry,  with  a  huge  knobbed 
stick  like  a  drum  major  or  beadle,  dressed  in 
gorgeous  livery,  a  red  sash  a  foot  wide  and  covered 
with  embroidered  black,  double-headed  eagles. 
All  he  does  is  to  open  and  shut  the  front  door.  In 
fact,  at  all  houses,  shops,  and  hotels,  they  have  a 
porter,  generally  an  old  soldier  covered  with 
medals,  to  take  off  and  put  on  overcoats  and  boots 
and  goloshes. 

Every  house  in  Russia  is  double  windowed  and 
treble  doored,  and  between  the  two  panes  of  the 
windows  there  are  artificial  flowers. 

The  houses  are  too  hot,  and  the  air  bad,  so  that 
they  use  incense  everywhere  in  the  country. 

Lady  Buchanan's  Ball. 

The  ball  at  the  British  embassy  was  very  good, 
and  we  were  introduced  to  the  prettiest  girl  in  the 
city,  the  little  Countess  Apraxine.  We  met,  also, 
a  charming  young  lady,  the  Princess  Ourousoff,  a 
cousin  of  my  friend  at  Newport  last  summer. 

Today  we  have  been  lunching  at  the  Prince 
Galitzine's,  with  a  crowd  of  jolly  young  dogs; 
among  them  the  son  of  the  celebrated  Gortschakoff . 

TSARSKOE    SeLO. 

We  passed  one  day  last  week  at  Tsarskoe  Selo, 
visiting  the  palace,  a  summer  residence  of  the 
Emperor;  also,  the  arsenal  with  splendid  armor, 
and  the  imperial  dairy,  where  we  ate  cheese  and 
drank  irnperial  milk.     We  afterwards  dined  with 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  151 

Gen.  Gogol,  the  commander  of  the  department,  who 
was  very  strong  on  the  entente  cordiale  between  us, 
with  a  most  healthy  detestation  of  England.  He 
was  another  good  specimen  of  that  well-known 
type  of  humanity,  the  Russian  general. 

The  Palace  was  the  best  I  ever  saw,  they  being 
generally  cold,  cheerless,  all  alike,  and  a  bore,  but 
this  looked  like  a  habitable  place,  with  a  blue  and 
silver  boudoir,  a  room  entirely  made  of  Japan  wood, 
with  panels,  pictures,  furniture,  all  Japanese;  one 
room  papered  with  amber,  and  at  last  a  Persian 
smoking  room,  small  and  cozy,  filled  with  bits  of 
armor  and  pipes,  divans,  and  a  tiny  fountain  sunk 
in  the  middle  of  the  room. 

I  have  been  doing  up  sights  rapidly,  preparatory 
to  leaving;  for  instance,  the  Admiralty,  where  an 
officer  showed  us  all  the  models,  interesting  to 
Charles,  especially  the  Yankee  cutters;  the  Acad- 
emy of  Fine  Arts  from  which,  however,  the  best 
paintings  have  already  been  sent  to  Paris.  (For 
the  Exposition.)  I  wanted  to  get  a  fair  idea  of  the 
Russian  school,  as  it  is  now  very  little  known  out 
of  the  country,  but  headed  by  Zitchy,  a  genius.  I 
have  photographs  which  will  give  you  an  idea  of 
his  talent. 

The  Imperial  Library  one  day  I  slaughtered,  well 
repaying  a  visit,  but  finally,  today,  we  gave  a 
hurried  half-hour  to  a  last,  lingering  gaze  at  the 
treasures  in  the  Hermitage. 

A  Drive  with  Reindeer. 

Yesterday,  in  all  the  cold,  we  took  a  five  minute 
drive  in  a  sledge  drawn  by  three  reindeer  on  the 
Neva,  just  to  say  we  had  done  it. 

Midnight  and  after:  —  I  take  up  my  festive  quill 


152  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

for  the  last  time  in  Petersburg,  to  finish  a  family- 
epistle. 

We  have  been  to  see  our  last  ballet  tonight,  and 
then  out  to  Tivoli,  a  restaurant  in  the  suburbs  of 
the  city,  with  a  "swell"  skating  pond  under  glass. 
We  have  been  meaning  to  see  the  place  for  a  long 
while,  but  have  not  accomplished  it  before  our 
last  eve. 

We  have  our  government  permission  to  leave 
the  country,  and  nothing  now  remains  for  us  to  do 
but  gracefully  take  off  our  hats  and  give  a  parting 
kiss  to  Russia.  Nate. 

Please  see  that  all  my  military  traps  are  safely 
returned  from  the  studio  of  Staigg,  —  sword,  bridle, 
jacket,  belt,  etc.  Ask  T.  G.  A.  to  write  me  his 
opinion  of  the  picture. 

Gas-Lighting  in  Moscow. 

From  My  Mother  in  Boston,  Feb.  10,  1867. 

"Did  you  witness  the  lighting  of  Moscow  with 
gas  ?  It  must  have  been  a  great  occasion  from  the 
newspaper  accounts.  It  seems  strange  it  should 
not  have  been  done  before  this. 

Gifts  to  the  South. 

Mr.  George  Peabody  has  made  a  munificent  gift 
to  the  country  of  $1,500,000  for  educational  pur- 
poses in  the  South,  so  that  I  am  sure  the  North 
may  feel  relieved  of  all  responsibility. 

I  read  in  this  evening's  Transcript,  that  the 
largest  room  in  the  world  is  in  St.  Petersburg,  did 
you  see  it?  Twenty  thousand  wax  tapers  are 
required  to  light  it  properly. 

It  is  simply  ridiculous  the  way  people  are  to  be 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  153 

off,  there  will  be  eight  or  nine  vacant  houses  at 
Nahant.  " 

Later,  in  a  letter  dated  March  31,  1867,  my 
mother  mentioned  the  gift  of  100,000  volumes  of 
school  books,  which  the  New  York  Appleton  firm 
had  added  to  the  educational  gift  of  Mr.  Peabody. 

"Poor  Poland.  " 

"Good  Kosciusko!  thy  great  name  alone 

Is  a  full  harvest  whence  to  reap  high  feeling; 
It  comes  upon  us  hke  the  glorious  pealing 
Of  the  wide  spheres  —  an  everlasting  tone.  " 

—  John  Keats.      To  Kosciusko. 

Letter  to  My  Mother. 

Vienna,   Feb.   12,   1867. 

From  Saint  Petersburg  to  here,  a  long  pull,  is  it 
not?  and  what  a  change  in  temperature  from  the 
icy  zero  of  the  Neva  to  that  which  seems  almost 
like  summer!  We  saw  the  snow  disappear  on  our 
way,  and  wheels  gradually  take  the  place  of  run- 
ners, and  now  that  I  am  far  away,  and  in  a  city, 
which  like  most  European  ones,  is  an  attempted 
copy  of  Paris,  how  brilliantly  indeed  do  the  pecu- 
liarities of  Russia  stand  forth. 

We  left  St.  P.  one  morning  and  the  evening  of 
the  next  day  were  in  Warsaw.  Returning  to  our 
hotel  late  from  a  ball,  we  were  accosted  and  stopped 
by  a  policeman  of  whom  I  asked  the  way,  and  he 
very  politely  took  us  all  (Mr.  W.  F.  Nisbet,  an 
American  gentleman  who  came  with  us  from  Rus- 
sia, C.  A.  L.  and  myself.)  to  the  station  house.  It 
seems  no  one  in  Warsaw  is  allowed  to  be  out  after 
midnight  without  a  "pass,"  and  we  had  neglected 
to  get  them. 


154  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

We  coolly  entered  and  sat  down  and  burst  out 
laughing,  and  at  length  I  explained  in  my  bad 
German,  to  an  official  who  talked  an  equally  bad 
lingo,  our  situation,  impressing  him  with  the  fact 
of  the  greatness  of  the  Amerikanski  alliance,  and 
we  were  soon  escorted  home. 

The  next  day  we  rambled  about  the  town,  saw 
the  palaces  and  the  pretty  ladies,  and  were  attended 
to  by  some  young  Russian  swells  to  whom  we  had 
letters  from  St.  Petersburg.  In  the  theatre  we  saw 
the  Mazourka  most  gorgeously  danced  in  true 
Polish  national  costume,  which  was  not  allowed 
here  a  few  years  ago. 

Poor  old  Poland!  What  is  left  of  her  former 
greatness?  Alas,  nothing  but  the  mazourka.  As 
can  be  aptly  said,  how  like  to  Byron's  Greece:  — 

We  have  the  PoHsh  dance  as  yet, 
Where  is  the  Polish  phalanx  gone? 

Better  this  than  nothing,  as  it  helps  keep  up  still 
the  nationality  of  the  people. 

The  next  morning  Charles  and  I  were  off  to 
Cracow,  the  old  capital  of  Poland,  and  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  quaint  old  towns  I  had  ever 
seen,  with  its  Square  and  Schloss,  and  the  church 
where  all  the  kings  of  Poland  have  been  crowned 
and  buried,  and  we  mysteriously  descended  the 
vault,  and  saw  the  tombs  of  Jagellon,  Paniatowski, 
and  our  good  friend  Kosciusko. 

This  is  an  Austrian  territory,  where  the  rule  is 
much  less  rigid,  and  we  saw  many  old  Poles  in 
faded  frogged  coats  and  square  caps,  and  the 
antique  equipages  and  livery  of  families  once  the 
greatest  in  Europe. 

I  was  never  so  impressed  before  with  the  hard 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  155 

fate  of  Poland,  a  great  nation  actually  annihilated, 
and  I  got  up  my  sympathy  more  on  my  journey  by 
reading  a  most  interesting  history  of  Poland  by 
Mickiewicz. 

There  happens  to  be  a  big  salt  mine  near  Cracow, 
and  as  we  had  never  seen  anything  of  the  sort 
before,  we  descended  with  Bengal  lights  and  what 
not,  and  did  the  whole  thing;  illuminated  chambers, 
ferried  across  the  Styx,  crystal  dance  halls,  and  all, 
hundreds  of  feet  below  ground. 

Parting  Company. 

The  next  morning  we  were  up  early  for  the  train, 
and  Charles  and  I,  after  two  and  more  most  agree- 
able months  together,  parted  company;  he  for 
Dresden  and  then  Paris,  and  I  for  Vienna. 


156  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  SEVENTH. 

CHARLES    APPLETON    LONGFELLOW. 

"Friend  of  my  youth!  when  young  we  roved, 
Like  stripHngs,  mutually  beloved, 
With  friendship's  purest  glow, 
The  bliss  which  winged  those  rosy  hours 
Was  such  as  pleasure  seldom  showers 

On  mortals  here  below. ' ' 
"To  Lord  Clare"  —  Byron's  Hours  of  Idleness. 

In  Virginia. 

Three  Years  Previous.  The  Pain  of 
Battle. 

It  was  the  movement  of  General  George  G. 
Meade  called  the  Mine  Run  Expedition,  Nov.  26, 
1863.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  First  Mass. 
Cavalry  under  command  of  General  John  I.  Gregg, 
marched  to  Parker's  Store  on  the  Orange  Plank 
Road,  where  it  met  a  column  of  Meade's  infantry, 
the  Fifth  Corps,  under  command  of  General  George 
Sykes,  passed  them,  and  marched  ahead  of  them 
on  the  Gordons ville  road,  leading  the  column 
through  the  Wilderness.  At  New  Hope  Church 
they  met  the  enemy's  cavalry  pickets,  but  the 
country  was  so  densely  wooded  they  could  only 
fight  dismounted. 

Brevet  Col.  B.  W.  Crowninshield  in  his  History 
of  the  First  Mass.  Cavalry,  says:  —  "As  the  force 
advanced,  the  ground  became  rougher  and  well 
wooded    at    times,     with     occasional     openings. 


CHARLES    APPLETOX     LONGFELLOW 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  157 

Charges  were  made,  and  prisoners  were  taken  from 
what  proved  to  be  Walker's  North  Carolina  Brigade 
of  Infantry. 

Lieutenant  C.  A.  Longfellow  of  Company  A,  was 
badly  wounded,  at  first  supposed  mortally 

When  the  5th  Corps  infantry  came  up  and 
relieved  the  cavalry  the  enemy  had  been  pushed 
back  nearly  to  his  works  on  Mine  Run.  ...  In  the 
fight  the  1st  Mass.  Cavalry  lost  one  officer  and  four 
men  killed,  and  two  officers  and  eleven  men 
wounded." 

From  the  History  of  the  Fifth  Mass.  Battery. 
Light  Artillery. 

Letter  of  Lieut.  Appleton  p.  747. 

The  Crossing  of  the  Rapidan.      New  Hope 
Church. 

"  On  the  27th  (Nov.  1863.)  off  at  daybreak, 
struck  a  dirt  road,  which  soon  led  to  another  plank 
road  parallel  to  the  first,  and  also  in  the  direction 
of  Orange  Court  House.  On,  on,  we  trudged,  and 
soon  we  heard  heavy  cannonading,  which  every 
minute  grew  nearer,  mixed  now  and  then  with  the 
sharp  cracks  of  the  carbine.  We  soon  came  to  the 
little  village  of  New  Hope  Church,  where  the  Corps 
rushed  on  at  '  double  quick '  to  relieve  the  shattered 
squadrons  of  Gregg,  and  a  splendid  sight  it  was. 
The  cavalry  formed  in  squares  by  the  road  side, 
right  glad  to  be  relieved  by  the  'iDoughboys'  and 
our  artillery  rushing  on  to  the  front.  Captain 
Martin  (Capt.  A.  P.  Martin  commanding  the 
Artillery  Brigade)  soon  got  the  batteries  in  posish, 


158  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

and  in  fact  the  only  fighting  our  Corps  did  was  done 
by  the  artillery.  I  soon  heard  that  Charlie  Long- 
fellow had  been  wounded,  and  stole  the  first  minute 
I  could  get  to  run  off  to  the  hospital,  New  Hope 
Church,  where  I  saw  the  dear  boy,  lying  on  the 
pulpit,  and  surrounded  by  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment. (First  Mass.  Cavalry.)  He  looked  and 
talked  well,  but  I  did  not  have  but  a  minute  to  stay 
with  him,  as  my  biz.  then  was  on  the  field.  ...  I 
went  again  to  the  hospital  in  the  evening,  but 
Charlie  had  gone,  as  they  had  taken  off  all  except 
the  worst  cases.  I  assure  you  it  was  not  a  pleasant 
sight.  Charlie  and  Bowditch  (Captain  Henry 
Pickering  Bowditch  shot  in  the  right  forearm)  went 
off  together.  Charlie  was  wounded  by  a  ball  just 
under  the  shoulder  blade,  injuring  the  spine,  but 
missing  the  vital  parts." 


Previous  to  his  connection  with  the  First  Mass. 
Cavalry  he  joined  the  First  Mass.  Battery,  Light 
Artillery,  at  the  front,  as  a  private,  but  was  not 
mustered  in,  and  at  the  age  of  19  was  commissioned 
in  the  Cavalry.  His  record  in  the  Adjutant 
General's  office  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  is  as 
follows :  — 

"Charles  A.  Longfellow,  of  Cambridge,  was  commis- 
sioned 2nd  Lieut.,  Co.  G.,  1st  Regt.  Mass.  Vol.  Cavalry, 
March  27,  1863;  mustered  March  27,  1863,  for  3  years. 
Commissioned  1st  Lieut,  to  date  January  24,  1864,  not 
mustered;  discharged  February  15,  1864,  as  2nd  Lieu- 
tenant. 

Charles  A.  Longfellow,  of  Cambridge,  was  commissioned 
1st  Lieut,  in  Co.  G,  5th  Regt.  Mass.  Vol.  Cavalry,  January 
7,  1864.     He  declined  the  commission.  " 

The  Fifth  Cavalry  was  a  Regiment  composed  of 
men  of  African  descent. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  15y 

In  August,  1863,  he  was  Acting  Adjutant. 

The  wound  affected  him  all  his  life,  he  was  never 
in  condition  to  rejoin  the  army,  and  it  prevented 
him  from  going  on  the  ill  fated  expedition  of 
Captain  George  Washington  De  Long  in  the  Jea- 
nette,  to  the  North  Pole.  He  had  begged  his  great 
friend  James  Gordon  Bennett  to  go  as  a  volunteer 
on  the  expedition,  but  the  surgeon  who  examined 
all  those  who  were  to  take  part  in  it,  did  not  con- 
sider him  fit  to  stand  the  probable  exposure,  and 
so  would  not  pass  him,  greatly  to  his  own  disap- 
pointment but  to  the  relief  of  his  family  and  friends. 
As  he  would  doubtless  have  been  in  the  boat  with 
Captain  De  Long  he  was  saved  the  suffering  and 
terrible  death  of  those  brave  men. 

After  much  travelling  and  residence  in  many 
lands,  shortly  after  his  return  from  a  trip  to  Tahiti 
with  his  friend  T.  Watson  Merrill,  in  the  spring  of 
1892,  he  had  a  sudden  stroke  of  paralysis,  from 
which  he  never  recovered. 

Passing  the  summer  with  his  sister  Miss  Alice 
Longfellow,  at  the  old  Nahant  Cottage,  he  returned 
with  her  in  the  autumn  to  the  historic  home  at 
Cambridge,  formerly  Washington's  headquarters, 
and  after  living  all  the  winter  and  appearing  some- 
what better,  he  died  April  13,  1893,  at  the  age  of 
forty-nine.     He  was  born  June  9,  1844. 


160  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH. 

FRANCE.       LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    EMPIRE. 
TO    RUSSIA    WITH    GENERAL    BANKS. 

I 

"Friend  of  the  fair  old  days, 

Have  you  forgotten  me? 
Back  through  the  pleasant  ways, 

Oft  in  my  memory, 
Gladly  I  turn  again. 

Hearing  the  sounds  that  blew 
Over  the   meadows  then  — 

Oft  at  the  side  of  you 
Dreaming  old  dreams,  I  gaze 

Worshipping  all  I  see  — 
Friend  of  the  fair  old  days. 

Have  you  forgotten  me? 

II 

Do  you  remember  me? 

Deeming  you  great  and  wise  — 
Questions  I  asked  you  then? 

There  where  the  green  hills  rise 
Often  your  gaze  was  cast 

Down  on  me  tenderly  — 
Friend  of  the  dear  old  past. 

May  you  remember  me?" 

—  S.  E.  Kiser. 

The  Guests  of  France. 

I  wrote  home  June  5th,  1867,  the  year  of  the 
Great  Exposition:  —  "It  does  not  pay  just  now  to 
be  away  from  Paris,  for  it  is  in  a  most  exceptional 


HON".    XATHAXIKl.    P.     BANKS. 
REPRESEXTATIVE    FROM    M  .\SS,\CHUSETTS. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  101 

state,  filled  with  Europeans  —  Kings,  Princes,  and 
all  kinds  of  celebrities.  All  other  places  are 
deserted  and  quieter  than  usual,  and  moreover 
they  will  all  keep  for  the  future,  but  probably  not 
for  years  will  Paris  see  such  another  sight. 

The  last  few  steamers  have  brought  over  crowds 
of  'Yanks';  others  have  come  up  from  Italy  and 
Germany,  and  I  find  that  since  the  short  time  ago 
that  I  left  here  for  England,  my  many  friends  have 
turned  up  and  prices,  too.  have  run  up  very  fast. 

The  race  for  the  Grand  Prix  on  last  Sunday,  was 
probably  the  most  brilliant  assemblage  of  the  sort 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  the  road  home  from 
the  tribune  itself  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  was 
a  solid  mass  of  vehicles  five  or  six  rows  in  breadth, 
and  all  going  in  the  same  direction 

My  friend  the  Tsar  Alexander  II.  was  there,  and 
I  recognized  other  Russian  friends,  but  I  shall  let 
you  get  the  accounts  from  the  papers,  and  not  from 
me,  of  all  the  grand  doings  of  the  season.  There 
is  to  be  held  at  the  race  course  at  Long  Champs  a 
huge  review  of  military. 

The  Review. 

Thursday.  Midnight:  I  must  finish  this  for 
you  tonight  to  dispatch  it  by  tomorrow  morning. 

The  Review  (Longchamps  June  6,  1867,  Review 
of  the  French  Army.)  was  superb.  It  was,  perhaps, 
the  proudest  day  of  Napoleon  Third's  career, 
having  on  one  side  of  him,  as  he  reviewed  the 
troops,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  on  the  other  the 
Emperor  of  Russia. 

I  was  late  in  driving  up,  but  afterwards  had  a 
fine  view  of  it  all  at  the  apartments  of  Paul  Forbes 
and  his  family  of  New  York,  on  the  avenue. 

11 


162  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

Returning  to  Paris  after  the  Review,  the  carriage 
in  which  the  Tsar  was  seated  passed  me  somewhere 
in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  as  I  too,  was  returning 
from  the  pageant.  I  was  so  full  of  the  delightful 
time  I  had  had  in  Russia,  a  few  months  before,  that 
I  took  off  my  hat  as  we  passed  and  gave  him  a  bow. 
My  salutation  was  so  very  marked  that  he  looked 
at  me  intently,  as  if  trying  to  make  out  just  who  I 
was,  but  I  do  not  suppose  he  could  bring  me  back 
to  his  recollection,  though  of  course  he  returned  the 
salutation. 

The  weather  is  delightful  now,  and  the  days  so 
long  that  it  is  not  dark  at  nine  o'clock,  and  Paris 
is  one  prolonged  fete,  each  day  and  night  more 
astonishing  than  the  last. 

There  is  a  vague  rumor  floating  about  that  some 
crazy  Pole  attempted  to  assassinate  the  Tsar  at 
the  Review. 

June  12,  1867:  This  marvellous  life  of  Paris 
runs  along,  getting  more  extraordinary  every  day! 

How  well  Napoleon  III.  has  succeeded  in  his 
undertaking.  He  invites  rulers  of  all  descriptions 
to  come  and  visit  him  in  his  home,  to  see  the  Paris 
of  '67. 

They  accept,  and  he  quietly  sits  twirling  his 
moustache,  surrounded  by  Tsars,  Popes,  Queens, 
Sultans,  Kings,  Grand  Dukes  and  Princes!  What 
a  shrewd  and  wonderful  stroke  of  diplomacy  it  all 
is,  thus  showing  to  the  world  the  marvels  of  his 
great  capital!  Balls,  fetes,  races,  reviews,  come 
and  go,  but  how  it  will  all  end  one  cannot  say,  for 
I  think  the  French  people  will  be  tired  of  the 
tremendous  expense  before  the  summer  is  over. 

Yesterday  I  went  with  a  party  to  Fontainebleau, 
but  it  so  happened  the  Imperialist  party  were  all 
there  the  same  morning,  and  the  Palace  was  closed 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  163 

for  visitors.  We  breakfasted,  and  drove  through 
the  forest,  expecting  to  see  a  chasse,  but,  shortly- 
after  reaching  the  "Rendezvous"  we  found  it  was 
abandoned  on  account  of  the  heat,  and  dogs  and 
huntsmen  all  marched  home. 

It  is  almost  too  warm  for  theatres  now,  but 
tonight  I  have  been  to  see  a  piece  called  La  Dame 
aux  Camelias,  which  was  a  great  success  in  Paris 
ten  or  fifteen  years  ago.  (Vaudeville  Theatre, 
Paris,  February  2,  1852,  Madame  Eugenie  Doche 
was  the  first  Marguerite  Gautier.) 

July  4.  1867:  —  Here  we  have  the  great  day  of 
American  independence,  but,  owing  to  the  death  of 
Maximilian,  all  festivities,  both  for  the  Sultan,  and 
even  our  own  "Fourth  of  July"  celebration,  are 
postponed.  I  must  say  this  seems  rather  unneces- 
sary, but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  yesterday 
morning  Napoleon  III  did  not  have  a  very  good 
appetite  for  breakfast.  (The  Emperor  Maximilian 
was  executed  in  Mexico,  where  he  bravely  insisted 
upon  remaining  to  meet  his  fate  when  the  army  of 
Napoleon  III  had  been  withdrawn.) 

Paris  is  one  of  those  places  into  which  you  tumble 
very  easily,  and  then  find  it  almost  impossible  to 
get  out  of  it.  People  are  packing  up  now,  however, 
and  the  fashionable  resort  this  summer,  for  Boston- 
ians  especially,  seems  to  be  the  baths  about  Salz- 
burg in  the  Tyrol. 

Funny  thing  life  is  here  in  Paris.  You  wake  up  in 
the  morning  without  any  idea  what  you  will  do 
during  the  day.  Invitations  come,  one  thing 
succeeds  another,  and  the  hours  slip  along. 

July  10,  1867:  The  death  of  MaximiHan  has 
caused  a  very  deep  feeling  in  Europe,  and  most  of 
the  festivities  arranged  for  the  Sultan  have  been 


164  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

countermanded.     This  makes  it  rather  quieter  in 
Paris  now  than  was  expected. 

I  went  out  yesterday  to  Saint  Cloud,  and  saw 
some  rowing  regattas  between  boats  of  various 
nationaUties,  but  there  were  few  persons  present, 
and  not  much  excitement." 


The  3^ear  of  the  great  Exposition  of  1867,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  apogee  of  the  Second  Empire, 
and  soon  after  it  ominous  rumbhngs  were  heard  in 
the  pohtical  clouds.  The  disastrous  and  humiliat- 
ing expedition  to  Mexico  doubtless  contributed  to 
the  beginning  of  the  downfall,  and  even  the  sight 
of  Napoleon  at  the  Longchamps  Review  in  1867, 
with  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the  King  of 
Prussia  on  either  side,  could  not  bolster  up  popular 
opinion  as  to  the  prestige  of  French  military  glory. 

I  never  considered  that  the  people  of  France 
endorsed  the  expedition  to  Mexico,  or  believed  in 
it.  No,  it  was  part  of  the  personal  ambition  of 
Napoleon  to  take  advantage  of  our  troubles,  and 
try  to  foist  an  empire  upon  one  of  the  nations  of  the 
Western  hemisphere,  where  it  was  not  wanted, 
would  have  been  out  of  place,  and  could  not  last 
long.  It  was  a  miserable  business  from  beginning 
to  end,  and  did  much  to  weaken  the  ties  of  friend- 
ship between  France  and  the  United  States,  as  was 
shown  many  years  later  by  the  opposition  of  our 
government  and  people  to  the  peaceful  work  of  Mr. 
de  Lesseps  in  his  herculean  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
Panama  Canal. 

Napoleon  was  at  the  height  of  his  tinsel  glory  in 
1867,  but  the  triumph  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  was 
reached  in  1869,  at  the  fetes  in  Egypt  attending  the 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal,  certainly  in  her  case  a 
well-merited  one,  her  efforts  as  a  relative  of  de 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  165 

Lesseps  having  contributed  so  much  to  the  success 
of  that  great  enterprise.  One  would  hardly  have 
imagined  then,  while  looking  upon  her  in  all  her 
grace  and  loveliness,  in  every  way  the  queen  of  the 
festivities,  that  the  over-throwing  of  the  Empire 
was  so  soon  to  follow. 

The  celebration  of  our  "Fourth  of  July"  at  the 
Pr^  Catalan  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was  omitted 
in  1867,  as  noted,  and  I  have  heard  that  this  was 
done  at  the  especial  request  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, and  I  suppose  it  was  made  in  such  a  way  that 
it  would  not  have  been  easy  or  in  good  taste  to 
refuse.  All  the  same  I  could  not  understand  what 
our  celebration  had  to  do  with  the  death  of  Maxi- 
milian, and  I  regretted  extremely  that  our  repre- 
sentative succumbed  to  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear.  I  never  learned  whether  it  was  the  result  of 
orders  from  Washington,  or  if  our  Minister  took  the 
responsibility,  for  such  an  act  does  not  seem  to 
harmonize  with  the  character  of  General  John  A. 
Dix,  though  he  was  the  most  courteous  of  gentle- 
men. 

Paris  in  1869. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1869,  I  wrote  my  sister  — 
"Paris  is  now  filled  with  American  diplomats, 
Washburn,  Jay,  Burlingame,  Marsh,  etc.,  most  of 
whom  I  have  seen.  Burlingame  dined  with  me  ten 
days  ago,  and  expatiated  on  the  charms  of  every- 
thing in  California." 

Among  my  guests  at  my  apartment  just  off  the 
Boulevard,  were  members  of  congress,  prominent 
men  of  business  and  science,  diplomatic  representa- 
tives, and  others,  meeting  there  as  they  turned  up 
in  Paris  on  their  European  trips  for  relaxation. 
They  were  generally  Americans,  as  my  ambitions 


166  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

were  all  identified  with  my  native  country,  but  I 
would  often  have  a  sprinkling  of  Frenchmen  or 
English  to  give  variety  and  there,  in  the  neutral 
territory  of  my  smoking-room,  all  restraint  thrown 
aside,  men  who  at  home  belonged  to  political 
parties  sometimes  in  bitter  opposition,  would  meet 
and  express  their  opinions  in  a  way  that  would  have 
been  impossible  in  New  York  or  Washington. 
Sparks  of  wit  would  fly  off  from  the  fast  working 
grindstone  of  this  unpretentious  salon,  and  there 
was  plenty  of  valuable  information  to  be  picked  up 
bv  any  one  who  would  take  the  trouble  to  go  there 
with  his  eyes  and  ears  open. 

BURLINGAME    AND    ChINA. 

At  a  farewell  banquet  given  to  Major  General 
John  A.  Dix,  U.S.  Minister  to  France,  at  the  Grand 
Hotel,  June  1st,  1869,  by  the  American  residents 
at  Paris,  the  Hon.  Anson  Burlingame  was  present 
and  was  introduced  by  the  presiding  officer  Hon. 
Elhot  C.  Cowdin,  as  one  who  "pleaded  for  the 
rights  of  four  millions  of  slaves  until  their  last  fetter 
fell.  He  now  in  loftier  tones  pleads  before  the 
nations  the  cause  of  four  hundred  millions  of  men. " 

In  1867,  Prince  Kung,  regent  of  the  Empire  of 
China,  offered  to  appoint  Burlingame,  who  was 
United  States  Minister  to  China  appointed  by 
President  Lincoln,  special  envoy  to  the  United 
States  and  the  great  European  powers,  for  the 
purpose  of  framing  treaties  of  amity  with  these 
nations,  an  honor  never  before  conferred  upon  a 
foreigner. 

He  resigned  as  U.  S.  Minister  to  accept  this  mis- 
sion around  the  world,  and  arrived  at  the  United 
States  the  head  of  a  numerous  party,  in  March, 
1868. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  167 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  the  following  year 
at  the  banquet  to  General  Dix,  he  said:  — 

"While  we  do  not  interfere  in  other  people's 
affairs,  nor  permit  them  to  interfere  in  ours,  we 
cannot  forget  that  we  are  a  great  nation,  that  we 
cannot  abdicate  our  responsibilities,  that  we  must 
take  our  part  in  the  peaceful  police  of  the  sea  and 
the  land,  and  in  the  maintenance  of  those  principles 
of  international  law,  which  recognize  the  equality 
of  nations  as  we  recognize  the  equality  of  men. 
That,  as  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  every  society  to 
protect  the  weak  from  the  strong,  so  the  weak 
nations  and  struggling  peoples  should  find  ample 
protection  in  that  sense  of  justice  of  the  strong 
nations  which  they  cannot  lose  and  prosper." 

Mr.  Burlingame  visited  St.  Petersburg  the  last 
of  the  European  capitals,  and  died  there  at  forty- 
eight  years  of  age,  on  Washington's  birthday,  1870, 
about  a  year  after  the  original  departure  from 
China.  I  first  met  him  when  he  had  the  Chinese 
Embassy  in  London,  then  frequently  in  Paris,  and 
the  last  time  in  Stockholm  before  we  left. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 

In  the  speech  of  Ex-Governor  Alexander  H. 
Bullock  at  this  banquet,  he  said  with  reference  to 
the  mission  of  Burlingame,  and  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  just  completed :  — 

"The  great  work  is  done,  and  hereafter  the  states 
are  a  unit  in  commerce  as  in  government.  Before 
my  friend  Mr.  Burlingame  has  half  completed  his 
cosmopolitan  mission,  the  freight  trains  have  been 
made  up  at  San  Francisco,  laden  with  the  product 
of  China,  and  by  the  time  he  shall  have  unpacked 
his  trunks  at  Berlin,  he  may  drink  at  the  breakfast 


168  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

table  his  favorite  tea,  which,  thanks  to  the  irre- 
pressible and  irresistible  Yankees,  has  been  brought 
round  to  him  the  other  way. " 

The  Curtin-Drexel  Dinner. 

My  first  thought  of  seeing  Le  Canal  de  Suez,  of 
going  to  the  opening  ceremonies  which  took  place 
on  the  17th  November,  1869,  was  the  result  of  a 
dinner  given  at  the  rooms  of  Bowles  Brothers  & 
Co.  early  in  July  of  that  year. 

The  dinner  was  given  in  honor  of  Governor 
Andrew  G.  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  been 
appointed  U.  S.  Minister  to  the  Russian  court  at 
St.  Petersburg,  and  was  then  en  route  to  his  post, 
and  to  Mr.  Anthony  J.  Drexel  of  Philadelphia,  who 
was  making  his  first  visit  to  Paris  after  the  estab- 
lishment there  of  the  branch  house  of  Drexel, 
Harjes  &  Co. 

Among  the  guests  present  I  can  now  recall  the 
Hon.  Elihu  B.  Washburn  U.  S.  Minister  at  Paris, 
Hon.  Anson  Burlingame  at  the  head  of  the  Chinese 
Embassy,  Major  General  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  P. 
Banks  M.  C,  Hon.  Zachariah  Chandler  U.  S. 
vSenator,  Hon.  Fernando  Wood  M.  C,  Mr.  John  C. 
Lee,  of  Lee,  Higginson  &  Co.,  and  Mr.  S.  Endicott 
Peabody  afterwards  a  partner  in  the  house  of  J.  S. 
Morgan  &  Co. 

Charles  Bowles  then  and  there  suggested  that 
General  Banks  and  I  go  to  the  opening  of  the  Suez 
Canal.  I  talked  with  the  General  about  it  and  we 
agreed  to  meet  in  Paris  the  middle  of  September, 
and  start  on  the  trip. 

We  went  first  to  Hamburg,  then  to  Copenhagen, 
where  we  arrived  about  the  20th  of  September,  and 
met  General  Waldemar  Rudolph  Raasloff,  Charge 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  109 

d 'Affaires  from  Denmark  to  the  United  States,  1858 
to  1862,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary 1864  to  1866,  and  then  on  to  Stockholm, 
where  we  saw  a  great  deal  of  Mr.  Burlingame,  who 
had  just  arrived  with  the  Chinese  Embassy. 

At  Stockholm. 

From  a  letter  written  to  my  sister  from  Stock- 
holm I  take  what  follows  under  date  of  October  4, 
1869:  —  "You  will  be,  doubtless,  somewhat  sur- 
prised at  seeing  from  the  heading  of  this,  how  far  I 
have  managed  to  get  from  my  beloved  Paris  with- 
out any  previous  warning.  With  General  N.  P. 
Banks  M.  C.  from  Massachusetts,  I  set  out  on  the 
trip  which  he  was  very  desirous  of  accomplishing, 
first  through  the  north  countries  of  Europe,  and 
then  through  Russia  to  Constantinople  and  the 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal. 

There  is  not  a  man  in  the  United  States  just  now 
who  is  a  more  valuable  companion  for  such  a  trip. 

We  have  been  passing  several  days  here  very 
pleasantly  though  quietly,  and  tonight  after  dining 
with  the  U.  S.  Minister,  General  C.  C.  Andrews,  we 
take  the  steamer  direct  for  Saint  Petersburg,  where 
I  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  revisiting  and  seeing 
in  a  more  summer  like  garb  the  scenes  of  my  former 
trittmphs. 

Mr.  Burlingame  happens  to  be  here  with  all  the 
Chinese,  and  they  cause  an  immense  sensation  in 
the  city.  The  square  in  front  of  our  hotel  is  con- 
tinually crowded  with  groups  of  curious  ones,  trying 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  Celestials,  as  they  sit 
complacently  at  their  windows  and  gaze  and  smile 
benignly  on  the  people  below. 

Mr.  Burlingame,  General  Banks  and  I  have  long\ 


170  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

talks,  lasting  late  into  the  night,  about  everything, 
which  generally  end  in  glorifying  the  grandeur  of 
the  great  Republic." 

General  Banks,  Denmark  and  Sweden. 

There  is  to  be  held  this  year  (1904)  a  Shakes- 
perian  celebration  marking  the  300th  anniversary 
of  the  first  printed  edition  of  the  tragedy  of  Hamlet, 
and  a  portrait  statue  of  Shakespere  is  to  be  erected 
on  the  road  to  Kronborg  Castle,  the  foundations  of 
which  are  now  said  to  be  insecure  through  the 
undermining  of  the  tides.  I  remember  well  after 
our  visit  to  Hamlet's  castle  at  Elsinore,  and  prom- 
enade on  the  terrace,  when  we  returned  to  the 
hotel,  and  had  dined,  and  were  in  adjoining  rooms, 
before  retiring,  the  General  was  full  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  scene,  and  repeated  to  me  many  of  the 
lines  of  Hamlet  appropriate  to  the  place  and 
occasion.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  he  knew  the  whole 
play  by  heart. 

At  Stockholm  the  house  he  especially  wanted  to 
see  was  that  of  Swedenborg,  —  founder  of  the 
Swedenborg  religion,  —  and  we  went  there  one  day. 
It  was  a  simple  dwelling  as  I  now  recall  it  after 
these  many  years.  We  made  an  excursion,  also, 
to  the  town  of  Upsala,  famous  for  its  university. 

The  American  Minister  Gen.  Christopher  Colum- 
bus Andrews,  of  Minnesota,  who  had  but  recently 
been  appointed,  gave  us  a  dinner,  and  all  in  his 
power  to  make  our  sojourn  agreeable  and  instruc- 
tive. 

A  Review  of  the  Army. 

We  saw  a  review  of  the  army  by  King  Oscar,  and 
were  told  afterwards  how  much  he  regretted  he  had 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  171 

not  known  we  were  there,  so  that  he  could  have 
invited  us  to  join  his  staff,  and  take  part  in  it. 

Raasloff,  Banks  and  the  Islands. 

In  Copenhagen  at  the  Raasloff  lunch  of  perhaps 
20,  after  he  was  elected  deputy,  General  Banks 
made  at  table  one  of  his  effective  impromptu  short 
speeches.  General  Raasloff  was  the  only  candi- 
date, and  thus  his  election  was  not  difficult,  but 
he  never  recovered  from  the  disappointment  of 
our  government  not  taking  the  island  of  St. 
Thomas,  when  he  supposed  it  was  all  settled 
between  the  United  States  and  Denmark.  Banks 
was  elected  member  of  congress  from  Massachu- 
setts in  1853,  and  1S55,  Governor  of  the  state  from 
1858  to  1861,  elected  member  of  congress  again, 
with  the  exception  of  the  election  of  1872,  from 
1865  to  1877.  In  1888,  he  was  again  elected,  and 
served  until  1890.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  foreign  affairs  of  the  U.  S.  House  of 
Representatives  in  1S65  and  later,  including  the 
years  General  Raasloff  was  minister  from  Denmark 
to  the  United  States.  I  had  heard  him  often  speak 
of  the  purchase  of  Saint  Thomas,  and  the  disap- 
pointment of  his  friend  General  Raasloff  at  its  non- 
accomplishment. 

In  his  judgment  we  ought  to  own  or  control  all 
the  islands  of  the  West  Indies,  showing  the  danger 
to  us,  as  proved  by  the  action  of  England  during 
our  civil  war,  of  their  being  in  the  possession  of 
governments  that  might  be  hostile.  The  blockade 
runners  were  almost  entirely  English  ships,  making 
money  out  of  our  troubles  by  supplying  the  Con- 
federates with  articles  they  needed,  and  receiving 
principally  cotton  in  return,  which  was  then  selling 
at  a  tremendous  price. 


172  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

If  the  advice  of  Banks  had  been  followed,  the 
War  with  Spain  in  1898,  which  began  by  the  desire 
to  assist  Cuba  in  gaining  its  independence,  could 
not  have  occurred.  He  was  one  of  the  strongest 
advocates  of  the  purchase  of  Alaska. 

During  my  travels  with  General  Banks,  then  53 
years  of  age,  from  the  middle  of  September,  1869, 
to  the  early  part  of  December,  I  always  found  him 
a  very  abstemious  man.  I  do  not  remember  that 
he  ever  took  a  glass  of  spirits :  I  mean  by  this  what 
are  called  hard  liquors.  At  dinner  he  would  take 
a  little  wine,  and  when  I  asked  him  what  he  pre- 
ferred he  would  say,  "Well,  you  know,  I  consider 
champagne  the  most  agreeable,"  and  so  once  or 
twice  a  week  we  would  have  a  bottle.  Occasion- 
ally, at  night,  he  would  indulge  in  a  glass  of  beer. 

Nor  did  he  smoke  at  all.  He  would  say  to  me, 
"I  cannot  smoke."  This  reminds  me  that  he 
never  clipped  expressions  of  the  kind,  i.  e.  he  always 
said  "I  do  not,"  "I  will  not,"  "I  shall  not," 
instead  of  "I  can't,"  "I  don't,"  etc.  It  was  a 
good  lesson  for  me  which  T  have  tried  to  follow, 
for  the  abbreviations  always  seem  to  me  cheap 
and  undignified,  especially  when  used  in  a  speech 
or  in  writing.  Of  course  in  ordinary  conversation 
it  may  be  to  a  certain  extent  different,  but,  all  the 
same,  I  prefer  the  two  words  to  the  shortening 
them  into  one. 

To  St.  Petersburg. 

Crossing  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  we  stopped  at 
several  small  towns  on  the  way  to  St.  Petersburg, 
where  our  new  minister,  Ex-Governor  Curtin  and 
the  Secretary  of  Legation  Mr.  Titian  J.  Coffey  of 
Pennsylvania,  both  of  whom  had  been  but  a  short 
time  in  the  country,  treated  us  most  hospitably. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  173 

The  Presentations. 

Writing  from  St.  Petersburg  on  this  date  I  said: 
"The  27th  of  October  will  be  remembered  by 
Americans  as  a  day  of  great  interest. 

Today  at  2  o'clock  at  the  Winter  Palace,  our  new 
minister  Ex-Governor  A.  G.  Curtin  presented  his 
credentials  and  was  formally  received  by  the 
Emperor  Alexander  II. 

Our  minister's  speech  and  the  reply  by  the  Tsar, 
were  short  but  to  the  point,  and  replete  with  senti- 
ments of  increasing  friendship  between  the  two 
great  continental  nations  of  the  world,  and  the 
happy  remarks  about  President  Grant  and  the 
Emperor  Alexander  will  be  appreciated  by  the 
people  of  both  countries.  The  secretary  Mr. 
Titian  J.  Coffey,  was  presented  at  the  same  time, 
and  the  United  States  legation  at  Russia  can  well 
be  proud  of  its  representatives. 

The  Review. 

Another  event  of  the  day  was  the  review  of 
military  forces  stationed  in  and  about  the  city,  to 
the  number  of  thirty-five  thousand,  which  took 
place  on  the  Champ  de  Mars.  Two  great  reviews 
are  held  yearly  in  Saint  Petersburg,  one  in  the  early 
spring  and  the  other  in  January.  The  review  of 
today  was  especially  ordered  by  the  Emperor,  out 
of  regular  course,  and  whether  or  not  it  has  any 
political  significance  was  subject  of  speculation. 

The  display  was,  as  such  things  always  are  here, 
very  fine,  the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  Russian 
horses  being  especially  observed. 

Besides  General  Banks  there  was  present  General 
Hiram  Berdan,  who  has  been  for  some  time  in 


174  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

Russia,  and  we  understand  that  he  has  large  con- 
tracts from  the  Russian  government  for  supplying 
them  with  his  improved  musket   and  cartridges. 

Agricultural  Exhibition. 

In  this  month  (October)  there  has  been  a  very- 
interesting  exhibition  of  the  different  herds  of 
cattle  raised  in  the  Russian  Empire.  This  is  the 
first  exhibition  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  the  city, 
and  it  has  been  an  object  of  great  interest.  The 
prizes  were  awarded  yesterday  by  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas,  and  today  the  Emperor  visited  it  in 
person.  The  ladies  of  the  Court  have  been  much 
interested  in  its  success,  and  many  of  the  farms  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  city  where  the  finest  stock 
is  raised,  are  owned  by  members  of  the  Imperial 
family.  Its  object  is  to  improve  the  breed  of  all 
kinds  of  stock,  and  to  assist  as  much  as  possible 
the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals,  especially  in  everything  that  relates  to 
preparing  animal  food  for  the  market." 

The  Review  of  the  Troops. 

I  went  to  the  Review  with  General  Banks  as  if 
attached  to  his  staff.  We  were  both  in  uniform, 
he  as  a  major  general  of  United  States  Volunteers, 
and  I  as  a  captain  of  Light  Artillery,  in  accordance 
with  an  Act  of  Congress  which  allows  all  honorably 
discharged  officers  of  the  Union  army  to  appear  in 
their  highest  brevet  rank  on  any  and  all  occasions 
during  life  when  a  uniform  is  the  appropriate  dress. 

As  a  general  rule  the  other  armies  of  Europe 
follow  the  customs  of  the  great  nations,  and  when 
the  head  of  the  government  ordinarily  wears  a 
uniform  of  course  the  officers  follow  the  example, 
making    it    their    habitual    dress.     The    Russian 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  175 

government  dresses  its  men  in  the  best  of  all  colors, 
gra}',  and  besides  the  trimness  and  inconspicuous- 
ness  of  the  uniform  itself  they  have  many  simple 
appliances,  as  for  instance,  the  hood  or  basilisk,  for 
the  comfort  of  the  ^soldier,  for  adopting  which  the 
rigorous  climate  of  the  country  has  doubtless  con- 
tributed a  great  deal.  The  result  is,  that  for 
thorough  winter  work  I  doubt  if  there  is  any  soldier 
in  Europe  as  well  prepared  as  the  Russians. 

Horses  were  there  ready  for  us,  and  we  rode  along 
the  lines  and  between  the  squares,  on  the  staff  of 
the  Emperor  himself.  It  was  a  fine  sight  and  I 
was  specially  struck  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
troops  for  their  chief  the  Tsar.  In  no  country  is 
this  carried  to  such  a  pitch  as  in  Russia.  The 
shouts  of  the  men  as  he  approaches  are  astonishing 
in  their  half-barbaric  ecstasy,  platoon  after  platoon 
taking  up  the  cry  in  turn.  The  shouts  of  these 
strange  looking  Russians  I  thought  at  the  time 
implied  a  power  and  assurance  of  fighting  well  for 
their  country  and  the  Tsar,  whenever  the  time 
should  come,  different  from  the  Han  of  the  French, 
the  dogged  determinedness  of  the  English,  or  the 
severe  discipline  of  the  Prussians.  Subsequent 
events  proved  that  I  was  not  wrong  in  my  deduc- 
tions. 

The  army  was  under  the  command  of  the  Tsar's 
brother,  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  who  turned  it 
over  to  its  real  head  as  he  came  down  at  the  last 
moment  in  his  open  drosky,  and  mounted  his  horse 
which  was  in  readiness  for  him  there. 

In  connection  with  this  review  I  recollect  an 
amusing  incident.  It  was  in  the  month  of  October, 
and  the  weather  was  consequently  becoming  rather 
cold,  and  so  a  day  or  two  before  a  general  order  was 
issued  for  the  troops  to  appear  in  their  overcoats. 


176  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

This  made  it  a  matter  of  etiquette  for  us,  also,  to 
wear  some  kind  of  overcoat,  and  as  we  neither  of 
us  had  one  of  a  miHtary  style,  we  went  with  our 
good-natured  consul  George  Pomutz  to  a  tailor, 
where  we  each  ordered  a  little  dark  blue  cape 
which  must  be  made  in  a  day's  time,  and  we 
thought  would  serve  our  purpose.  They  did  do 
very  well,  and  I  have  often  used  mine  since  in  the 
militia,  and  once  lent  it  to  a  lady  to  wear  going  to 
a  dinner  party,  fastened  with  a  bright  brass  button. 

General  Hiram  Berdan. 

General  Berdan,  of  rifle  renown,  happened  then 
to  be  in  St.  Petersburg  with  one  of  his  famous  guns 
he  was  offering  for  the  consideration  of  the  Russian 
government,  and  he,  too,  was  at  the  Review. 

The  Lost  Sword. 

Fortunately  I  did  not  have  with  me  my  precious 
army  sword,  but  one  I  had  bought  at  Paris  just 
before  starting,  an  historic  sword  as  the  proprietor 
of  the  little  shop  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore',  —  on  the 
right  from  the  Rue  Castiglione,  as  you  go  towards 
the  Rue  Roy  ale,  —  where  I  got  it,  told  me  that  it 
had  belonged  to  one  of  the  suite  of  Napoleon  at 
St.  Helena,  and  that  one  of  the  family  had  brought 
it  back. 

Just  before  General  Banks  and  I  left  Saint 
Petersburg  for  Moscow,  we  heard  that  the  railroad 
bridge  over  one  of  the  great  rivers  had  been  burned. 
This  was  indeed  the  case  as  we  found  on  arriving 
there  shortly  after  dark,  and  we  had  to  pass  the 
night  on  the  train  where  we  were,  and  traverse  the 
stream  the  next  day  in  boats,  rafts,  or  any  way  we 
could. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  177 

As  we  had  reached  the  southern  side,  and  were 
stepping  on  to  the  bank  from  the  boat,  the  sword 
sUpped  out  of  my  bundle  of  rugs,  and  fell  into  the 
river,  where  I  have  no  doubt  it  has  remained  to 
the  present  time.  Morijiks  tried  to  find  it  for  me, 
but  the  water  was  very  deep,  the  current  swift,  and 
it  could  not  be  recovered.  I  doubt  if  it  was  ever 
known  how,  or  by  whom  and  for  just  what  purpose 
the  bridge  was  fired,  for  it  was  generally  believed 
to  have  been  the  work  of  an  incendiary. 

A  short  time  before,  the  railroad  had  been  sold 
by  the  Winans  people  of  Baltimore,  who  had  built 
and  largely  owned  it,  for  7,000,000  roubles  cash  to 
the  Court  clique,  headed  by  Count  Strogonoff,  who, 
by  the  way,  came  down  on  the  same  train  with  us 
to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

All  the  old  employes  were  discharged  for  some 
reason  or  other,  and  their  places  filled  by  Poles 
taken  from  the  St.  Petersburg  and  Warsaw  rail- 
road, and  so  very  likely  one,  or  several,  of  the  men 
turned  off,  devised  and  carried  out  this  plan  of 
revenge. 

I  remember  that  Governor  Curtin  and  the  Secre- 
tary Mr.  Coffey,  whom  we  had  often  seen  during 
our  stay  in  St.  Petersburg,  came  to  see  us  off  at  the 
station.  We  experienced  great  difficulty  in  getting 
any  kind  of  information  as  to  the  situation,  but  we 
were  determined  to  start  and  run  the  chance,  as  we 
had  but  little  time  to  catch  our  boat  at  Odessa. 
As  it  was,  we  lost  about  twenty -four  hours,  reaching 
Moscow  just  one  day  later  than  we  should. 

It  was  during  our  sojourn  at  St.  Petersburg  that 
I  received,  thanks  to  Mr.  Charles  Bowles  then  in 
America,  an  invitation  from  the  Board  of  Trade  of 
my  native  city  of  Boston,  of  which  the  Hon. 
Alexander  H.  Rice  was  then  president,  to  be  its 

12 


178  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

delegate  for  the  opening  ceremonies  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  and  to  write  a  report  thereon.  I  consider 
this  as  the  beginning  of  my  service  in  the  interest 
of  a  canal  across  the  American  Isthmus,  for  instead 
of  going  to  Egypt  merely  as  a  tourist  and  spectator, 
I  had  some  work  to  do  by  which  my  attention  was 
specially  called  to  the  subject  of  ship  canals. 
Certain  it  is  that  since  that  time  with  many  other 
occupations  it  has  constantly  been  before  my  mind 
and  is  so  now. 

Individual  Enterprise. 

To  beguile  the  time  on  board  ship  I  jotted  down 
the  following  notes,  Odessa,  Nov.  7,  1869:  — 

"The  idea  strikes  me  forcibly  here  —  that  of 
individual  enterprise,  or  rather  great  results  accom- 
plished by  individuals  —  because  the  prosperity 
of  this  city  is  mainly  due  to  the  unaided  efforts  of 
two  persons.  First  the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  a 
French  nobleman  who  may  be  regarded  as  its 
founder,  and,  secondly.  Prince  Woronzoff,  for 
many  years  the  Russian  governor  of  the  province 

How  much  any  one  man  can  accomplish  if  he 
will  devote  himself  entirely  to  the  attempt,  and 
what  a  field  there  is  today  for  such  ambition  in  the 
United  States  of  America!  We  must  have  the 
Darien  Canal  cut,  we  must  have  our  commerce 
stimulated  by  a  changed  tariff;  we  must  have 
cheaper  internal  transportation  for  our  products, 
and  then  there  will  be  little  talk  about  the  national 
debt.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  not  have 
to  sell  gold  in  Wall  street.  " 

On  the  Way  to  Suez. 
Passing  in  our  journey  from  the  cold  autumn 


FERDINAND    DE     LESSEPS,    1869. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  179 

weather  of  Russia,  partly  by  rail  and  partly  by 
boat  and  across  the  Mediterranean,  we  reached  the 
glorious  sun  of  Constantinople  and  the  tropical 
warmth  of  Egypt. 

At  Odessa  we  joined  an  excursion  party  in  one 
of  the  boats  of  the  Russian  Navigation  Company 
the"  General  Kotzebue,"to  Constantinople,  Rhodes, 
Port  Said,  Ismailia,  Suez,  passing  through  the 
canal,  Cairo  by  rail,  Alexandria,  and  then  by 
Brindisi  and  the  Mount  Cenis  Tunnel  back  to  Paris 
in  December. 

General  Banks  ought  to  have  been  invited  to 
represent  the  government  of  the  nation,  he  was 
then  member  of  congress  and  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  foreign  affairs  in  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, but  he  was  not  appointed. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Count  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  the  hero  of  the 
canal,  and  my  journey  with  General  Banks  deserves 
more  than  a  passing  notice,  for  his  varied  experience 
of  the  past,  and  his  penetrating  observation  of  the 
present,  had  given  him  facilities  for  seeing  and 
judging  things  in  a  manner  which  could  not  fail 
to  be  instructive.  The  strong  American  stamp 
of  his  character,  while  exciting  my  youthful  enthu- 
siasm did  not  bias  him  in  his  judgment  of  European 
or  Oriental  customs  or  forms  of  government. 
From  his  mind  wonderful  photographs  were  taken 
as  we  travelled  together  from  the  North  to  the 
South,  and  his  quiet  and  dignified  encouragement 
of  my  aspirations  so  naturally  given  in  the  offhand 
intimacy  of  a  journey,  with  the  mixture  of  petty 
pleasures  and  annoyances,  were  a  stimulus  which 
came  very  opportune  to  me  and  which  I  was  not 
likely  to  forget. 

Accidentally,    too,    at    different    stages    of    our 


180  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

wanderings,  we  were  thrown  in  with  several  other 
marked  and  representative  types  of  Americans; 
among  them  at  Stockholm  the  noble  Burlingame 
since  then  taken  away  in  the  midst  of  his  grand 
work  of  Chinese  regeneration;  Governor  Curtin  the 
war  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  the  genial,  kindly, 
bright,  wiry  type  of  American  politician,  and  the 
well-known  American  dentist  of  Paris,  Dr.  Thomas 
W.  Evans,  whose  intimacy  with  the  French 
Emperor  Napoleon  III,  and  knowledge  of  the  inner 
history  of  the  past  twenty  years  in  Paris,  made 
him  an  agreeable  and  valued  companion. 

With  the  healthy  glow  of  travel,  at  the  most 
delightftd  season  of  the  year,  and  the  excitement 
of  military  reviews  and  gala  fetes  at  the  different 
capitals  visited,  all  ending  with  the  gorgeous 
Aladdin-like  enchantments  of  the  week  in  Egypt, 
when  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  aye  and  America,  came 
at  the  invitation  of  the  Khedive,  and  led  by  the 
graceful  Empress  Euge'nie,  offered  their  congratu- 
lations at  the  completion  of  that  international 
work  of  peace,  the  Suez  Canal,  —  and  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  these  sights  in  the  presence  of 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  personages  alive, 
and  of  discussing  them  with  advanced  minds  amid 
the  surroundings  of  attractive  places,  —  what  than 
this  could  be  a  better  phase  of  education? 

Constantinople. 

On  arriving  at  Constantinople  the  captain  of 
the  steamer  gave  all  the  passengers  a  couple  of 
days  to  spend  in  seeing  the  wonders  of  this  extraor- 
dinary city  before  continuing  our  journey. 

We  went  to  the  best  hotel,  and,  after  breakfast- 
ing, whom  should  we  meet  in  the  hall  but  my  old 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  181 

Harvard  classmate  Jeremiah  Curtin  vice  consul 
at  St.  Petersburg.  Curtin  is  the  translator  of 
"Quo  Vadis"  by  the  Polish  author  Henry k  Sien- 
kiewicz,  published  by  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  of 
Boston,  —  John  Murray  Brown  our  classmate 
being  a  member  of  the  firm,  —  and  dedicated  to 
another  member  of  our  class  Auguste  Comte  of  San 
Francisco. 

I  had  seen  Curtin  in  Moscow,  when  I  was  there 
in  January,  1867.  General  Banks  had  known  him 
in  Washington,  Curtin's  headquarters  when  not  on 
his  journeys  of  investigation,  and  he  was  very  glad 
to  meet  us  both.  What  he  was  doing  in  Turkey 
we  could  not  quite  make  out,  but  I  think  in  the 
interest  of  Russia  he  was  quietly  watching  the 
movements  of  the  Slavonic  elements  there,  and 
through  the  Danubian  principalities.  Besides  this 
he  was  writing  letters  for  one  of  the  great  New 
York  papers.  Mr.  Curtin  told  us  that  for  the 
morning  he  met  us  he  was  to  have  by  appointment 
an  interview  with  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
the  head  of  the  Greek  Church  there,  and  invited 
us  to  accompany  him,  and  we  were  only  too  glad 
to  thus  have  an  opportunity  for  seeing  this  dis- 
tinguished personage. 

The  Metropolitan  of  Moscow  and  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople  are  two  of  the  heads  of  the  Greek 
Church.  We  went  to  see  the  Patriarch  simply  as 
the  head  of  the  Turkish  branch  of  the  Church. 

We  started  from  the  hotel  on  horseback,  and, 
winding  down  some  narrow  streets  to  the  water, 
crossed  it  at  the  Golden  Horn,  and  were  soon  in 
the  old  part  of  the  city  on  the  other  side,  threading 
our  way  to  where  the  Patriarch  lived,  amidst  the 
ancient  houses  and  quaint  shops  which  were 
swarming  with  inhabitants,  until  we  arrived  at  the 
door. 


182  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

We  were  taken  up  into  quite  a  large  room  with 
divans  all  around  it,  and  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  the  Patriarch,  who  sat  tranquilly  in  one  corner. 

He  was  an  aged,  fine  looking  gentleman,  with 
long,  flowing  locks  and  beard,  and  received  us  most 
graciously. 

We  talked,  through  an  interpreter,  on  various 
matters,  and,  after  partaking  of  sweetmeats  and 
coffee,  retired  very  much  gratified  with  the  inter- 
view. 

His  dress,  as  also  that  of  the  interpreter,  was 
curious ;  being  a  combination  of  Oriental  robes  and 
church  trappings  like  all  the  religious  officers  of  the 
Greek  Church.     It  is  striking  and  effective. 

Arrival  at  Port  Said. 

It  was  on  November  15th  a  little  before  sun- 
down that  our  vessel  the  "General  Kotzebue" 
entered  the  harbor  of  Port  Said,  with  a  very  agree- 
able company  of  Russians,  and  came  to  anchor  in 
its  proper  place  about  seven  o'clock. 

We  took  our  position  on  the  right  in  entering. 
The  Emperor  of  Austria  had  entered  just  before 
us.     Salutes  were  fired. 

We  went  on  shore  to  see  the  U.S.  Consul,  but  he 
was  not  at  home.  Left  cards  on  Mr.  de  Lesseps 
and  strolled  about  the  town.  Left  cards  on  the 
Vice  Roi  in  his  yacht,  and  saw  Nuba  Pacha.  Met 
Dr.  Evans  and  Dr.  Edward  A.  Crane,  —  a  well 
known  member  of  the  American  colony  in  Paris 
and  for  many  years  editor  of  The  American  Register 
of  that  city  owned  by  Dr.  Evans,  —  on  the  street 
at  Port  Said.  Later  we  go  to  the  reception  in  the 
yacht  of  the  Vice  Roi  or  Khedive,  a  splendid  boat, 
and  I  was  there  presented  to  the  enterprising  ruler 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  183 

of  Egypt,  anr"  first  met  Mr.  de  Lesseps  himself,  who 
from  that  time  has  been  one  of  my  favorite  heroes, 
and  who  I  am  free  to  admit  I  consider  the  most 
remarkable  man  of  our  day. 

As  I  now  look  back  through  many  years  to  that 
week  of  fetes  in  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  I  have 
a  kaleidoscopic  vision  of  enchantment  worthy  of 
the  Arabian  Nights,  and  perceive  through  the 
charm  and  mystery  of  the  Orient,  a  work  of  prac- 
tical modern  progress  which  it  softens  and  adorns. 

Return  to  Paris. 

I  was  with  General  Banks  in  Paris  after  our 
return  from  Egypt  about  ten  days  in  December, 
1869,  when  he  and  I,  with  Paul  Forbes,  Anthoine 
de  Gogorza,  Alexandre  Boyer,  two  Erlangers, 
Emile  and  Louis  Count  Excelmans,  Dr.  Evans, 
General  Charles  B.  Norton,  and  others,  were 
organizing  the  Darien  Canal  Company.  Then  he 
went  to  Washington  for  the  session  of  congress, 
and  I  remained  in  Paris. 


184  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 


CHAPTER  NINTH. 

ALEXANDER    II.    AND    EMANCIPATION. 

'Though  watery  deserts  hold  apart 

The  worlds  of  East  and  West, 
Still  beats  the  self-same  human  heart 
In  each  proud  nation's  breast. 

Our  floating  turret  tempts  the  main 

And  dares  the  howling  blast, 
To  clasp  more  close  the  golden  chain 

That  long  has  bound  them  fast. 

In  vain  the  gales  of  ocean  sweep, 

In  vain  the  billows  roar, 
That  chain  the  wild  and  stormy  steep 

Of  storied   Elsinore. 

She  comes!  She  comes!  Her  banner  dips 

In  Neva's  flashing  tide, 
With  greetings  on  her  cannon's  lips 

The  storm-god's  iron  bride. 

No  prairies  heaped  their  garnered  store 

To  fill  her  sunless  hold, 
Not  rich  Nevada's  gleaming  ore 

Its  hidden  caves  enfold. 

But  lightly  as  the  sea  bird  swings 
She  floats  the  depth  above; 

A  breath  of  flame  to  lend  her  wings  — 
Her   freight,    a   people's   love. 

When  darkness  hid  the  stormy  skies 

In  war's  long  winter  night. 
One  ray  still  cheered  our  straining  eyes, 

The  far  ofE  northern  light. 


ALEXANDKR     II,    1866 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  185 

And  now  the  friendly  rays  return 

From  lights  that  glow  afar, 
Those  clustered  lamps  of  heaven  that  bum 

Around  the  western  star. 

A  nation's  love  in  tears  and  smiles 

We  bear  across  the  sea: 
O!   Neva  of  the  banded  isles, 

We  moor  our  hearts  to  thee." 
— Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  on  Fox's  Mission  to  Russia,  1866. 


The  Territory  of  Russia. 

Forty -two  years  have  passed  since  in  Novgorod, 
the  oldest  town,  Russia  celebrated  the  one  thou- 
sandth anniversary  of  its  birth,  and  erected  a  monu- 
ment consisting  of  an  enormous  globe,  in  the  midst 
of  emblematic  and  historical  figures.  The  original 
Russia  was  a  republic.  It  occupied  a  small  dis- 
trict near  the  sources  of  the  Dneiper  and  Western 
Dvina,  and  the  site  of  the  future  city  of  Novgorod. 
Its  name  was  derived  from  Rus  the  patronymic  of 
three  brothers  of  a  Variag  tribe  belonging  to  the 
settlement.     The  oldest  brother  was  called  Rurik. 

More  than  six  hundred  years  had  passed,  when  in 
the  South,  Ivan  III.  united  the  independent  princi- 
palities of  Moscow,  and,  in  1505,  cast  of?  the  Tartar 
yoke  from  these  states,  whose  rulers  proclaimed 
themselves  Tsars,  and  which  were  accidentally 
discovered  in  1553,  on  the  White  Sea,  by  an  Eng- 
lish navigator  seeking  for  a  short  route  to  China 
and  India.  A  commercial  acquaintance  was 
formed  which  has  been  intermittently  sustained 
ever  since  with  England. 

In  1570,  was  inaugurated  the  Russian  principle 
of  expansion,  by  conquering  the  republic  of  the 
North  and  annexing  it  to  Moscow,     In  this  process 


186  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

it  is  said  60,000  human  beings  were  sacrificed.  In 
a  circular  recently  issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Instruction  through  the  curators  of  the  several 
educational  districts,  instructing  the  directors  of 
secondary  schools  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  their 
pupils  a  correct  theory  of  the  war  of  the  present 
year  (1904)  emphasis  is  given  to  the  method  of 
treatment  of  the  Russian  colonies  compared  with 
that  received  by  those  pertaining  to  other  coun- 
tries. 

It  says: — "The  western  European  states  draw 
from  their  colonies  an  immense  income,  they  live 
on  them.  Russia  expends  on  her  periphery  a  very 
considerable  sum  annually,  and  receives  nothing 
from  them  in  return.  The  Russian  periphery 
flourishes  at  the  expense  of  the  centre.' ' 

This  periphery  embraces  the  colonies  of  Finland, 
the  Caucasus,  the  Central  Asiatic  possessions  and 
Manchuria. 

During  the  reign  of  Alexander  I.  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Finland,  which  stretches  from  the  Gulf 
of  Finland  to  the  Polar  Sea,  by  the  peace  of  Fried- 
erichshamm  was  ceded  to  Russia  by  Sweden  in 
1809,  and  Poland  was  acquired  in  1814.  In  1867, 
Russia  possessed  about  106,951  Russian  square 
miles  in  Europe  and  the  Caucasas,  248,470  in  Asia, 
and  24,210  square  miles  which  were  ceded  to  the 
United  States  in  that  year.  Now  behold  a  great 
empire  with  a  territory  stretching  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  from  the  Polar  Sea  to 
the  frontiers  of  Turkey,  Persia,  Afghanistan  and 
China,  crossed  by  systematically  extended  lines  of 
railway,  and  divided  as  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  into  two  portions,  whose  sources  of  devel- 
opment, difference  in  soil,  character  of  colonization 
and  products,   call  for  constant  reference  to  the 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  187 

distinctive  titles  of  "the  North' '  and  "the  South.' ' 
Moscow,  the  commercial  and  industrial  capital  of 
the  empire,  which  has  remained  the  home  of  passive 
conservatism  and  an  asylum  for  the  discontented, 
preserves  the  tombs  of  the  Grand  Princes,  and  the 
palace  in  which  the  Tsars  of  Muscovy  lived  and 
other  monuments  made  sacred  by  tradition,  six 
centuries  of  historical  associations  surrounding  the 
Kremlin. 

St.  Petersburg,  a  cosmopolitan  city  was  built  on 
a  European  design  especially  favoring  French 
models,  with  the  purpose  frankly  avowed  by  Peter 
the  Great  of  having  "a  window  by  which  the 
Russians  might  look  into  civilized  Europe."  Like 
Odessa  it  has  more  of  a  foreign  than  a  Russian 
character,  but  not  more  than  one  tenth  of  the  popu- 
lation are  dwellers  in  the  city,  while  the  agricultural 
element  is  ever  expanding. 

The  System  of  Government. 

The  historical  development  of  Russia  has  been 
peculiar,  and  her  social  and  political  organization 
differs  radically  from  that  of  the  countries  of 
western  Europe.  Its  autocracy  is  founded  on  the 
unbounded  hereditary  devotion  of  the  people,- — 
peasantry  and  nobles  alike.  The  entire  govern- 
ment of  the  vast  empire  is  administered  from  St. 
Petersburg,  on  the  principle  that  the  people  are 
incapable  of  understanding  the  methods  of  govern- 
ing their  local  affairs,  and  from  that  or  from  other 
reasons,  are  not  to  be  trusted  with  them,  so  that 
the  local  self  government  is  anomalous.  Created 
by  autocratic  power  through  a  commission  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  of  "  conferring  more  unity 
and  independence  on  the  local  economic  admin- 


188  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

istration,' '  it  has  not  grown  into  an  institution 
from  popular  wants  publicly  declared,  petitioned 
for  and  advocated,  but  derives  its  main  motive 
power  and  maintenance  from  the  Central  Govern- 
ment which  controls  it.  Peter  the  Great  (1682- 
1725)  introduced  uniformity  and  symmetry  into  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  After  the  death 
of  Patriarch  Adrian  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  an 
interregnum  of  twenty  years,  Peter  supplied  his 
place  by  an  ecclesiastical  council  a  synod  which 
still  remains  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority,  in 
which  as  a  contemporary  observed  "the  main- 
spring was  Peter's  power,  and  the  pendulum  his 
understanding.' ' 

The  members  of  the  Synod  are  appointed  by  the 
Tsar  who  is  accountable  to  no  one.  Next  to  him 
in  temporal  power  come  the  Council  of  State,  the 
Committee  of  Ministers,  and  the  Senate,  which  is 
the  sole  Court  of  Revision  for  the  Justice  of  Peace 
Courts  and  for  the  Regular  Tribunals,  and  is  the 
regulator  of  the  whole  judicial  system  of  the  em- 
pire. Below  these  are  ten  ministries,  viz.,  the 
Ministries  of  the  Interior,  Public  Works,  State 
Demesnes,  Finance,  Justice,  Public  Instruction, 
War,  Navy,  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  Imperial 
Court. 

The  territorial  administration  is  divided  into 
provinces,  and  each  province  into  districts,  all 
varying  greatly  in  size.  Over  each  province  is  a 
governor,  vice-governor,  and  council.  The  gover- 
nor is  the  local  representative  of  the  Ministry  of 
the  Interior  and  each  of  the  other  ministries  have 
their  bureaus  and  representatives  in  the  provinces 
drawn  chiefly  from  the  nobility  and  the  clergy. 
Every  province  and  each  of  the  ten  districts  into 
which  it  is  divided,  has  an  assembly  of  deputies 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  189 

and  an  executive  bureau  elected  by  the  assembly 
from  among  its  members,  but  the  president  of  the 
assembly  is  a  Marshal  of  the  Noblesse,  and  a  limit 
is  placed  to  the  taxation  of  trade  and  industry. 
The  deputies  are  elected  by  the  landed  proprietors 
of  the  rural  communes,  composed  of  peasants,  and 
the  municipal  corporations.  The  members  of  the 
Assembly  for  the  provinces  are  elected  by  the  Dis- 
trict Assemblies.  The  system  of  government  for 
the  towns  differs  essentially  from  that  of  the  coun- 
try, the  towns  receiving  the  advantage  of  the  devel- 
opment of  trade  and  industry,  the  establishment  of 
schools,  etc.  They  are  of  three  kinds,  "Govern- 
ment towns,"  "District  towns,"  and  supernum- 
erary, each  divided  into  merchants,  nondescript, 
and  artisans,  the  artisans  being  partly  made  up 
from  the  population  of  the  agricultural  districts. 
The  towns  have  a  mayor  and  council. 

The  Serfs. 

Moscow  has  been  described  as  the  centre  from 
which  serfage  radiated,  decreasing  toward  the 
north,  east,  and  south. 

According  to  the  documents  of  the  several  periods 
and  the  statements  of  travellers,  the  rural  popula- 
tion of  Russia  was  composed  originally  of  three 
classes,  viz.,  slaves  who  were  made  so  by  various 
causes — some  prisoners  of  war,  others  freemen  who 
had  sold  themselves  as  slaves,  others  insolvent  debt- 
ors and  convicts.  One  grade  higher  were  the  free 
farm  hands  who  wandered  from  place  to  place, 
wherever  they  could  find  work,  and  then  the  peas- 
ants or  small  fanners,  a  distinct  class  by  them- 
selves, who  were  highest  in  the  social  scale,  and 
who    were  possessors  of  land  and  of  their  personal 


190  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

liberty.  But  in  the  eighteenth  century  these  dis- 
tinctions gradually  became  obliterated  on  account 
of  the  disproportion  between  the  small  number  of 
laborers  and  the  large  amount  of  irreclaimable 
land,  systematized  immigration  being  impossible, 
and  all  the  classes  were  rolled  into  one  under  the 
name  of  "serfs,"  who  were  owned  by  the  great 
landed  proprietors  or  by  the  state,  and  being  held 
as  property  were  bought  and  sold  in  families  and 
singly,  and  were  deprived  of  legal  protection  by 
the  Government  according  to  the  ukazes  of  October 
13,  1675,  and  June  25,  1682,  which  sanctioned  the 
practice  of  selling  peasants  and  the  exaction  of 
the  payment  to  the  Government  of  dues  on  the 
sales  of  slaves.  Free  peasants  were  often  kid- 
napped from  weaker  by  more  powerful  proprietors 
and  made  serfs,  while  the  same  class  although 
nominally  free  were  so  valuable  to  those  who  pos- 
sessed their  services  that  they  were  not  allowed  to 
leave  their  borders,  so  by  this  means,  and  often 
by  reason  of  debts  contracted  to  the  proprietor 
a  large  number  became  practically  serfs  before 
serfage  was  established  by  law,  i.  e.  before  the 
Tsars  discharged  their  obligations  to  the  nobles  by 
bestowing  upon  them  a  certain  amount  of  land 
with  a  certain  number  of  laborers  attached,  thus 
legalizing  serfage  and  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves. 
A  small  proportion  of  the  nobles  who  lived  on  their 
estates  held  the  peasants  as  slaves. 

Under  Peter  the  Great  (1682-1725)  and  his 
immediate  successor  every  man  was  compelled  to 
serve  the  state,  and  every  proprietor  paid  the  poll 
tax  of  his  serfs,  who  were  thus  reckoned  as  taxable 
property,  and  every  unattached  laborer  was 
arrested  as  a  vagrant.  In  1766,  by  imperial 
ukaze,  the  proprietors  or  masters  had  a  right  to 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  191 

transport  unruly  serfs  to  Siberia  for  life  without 
trial.  In  1767  and  1781,  it  was  ordered  that  those 
who  entered  complaints  against  their  masters, 
should  be  punished  with  the  knout  or  sent  to  the 
mines,  or,  what  they  feared  most,  made  to  join  the 
Army  as  recruits.  In  extreme  cases  of  the  cruelty 
of  proprietors,  the  authorities  interfered  by  direc- 
tion of  the  Tsar,  who  happened  to  be  informed  of  it. 
In  1792,  the  serfs  were  bought  and  sold,  and  given 
away  as  part  of  the  masters'  working  capital,  in 
large  and  small  numbers,  with  and  without  the 
land,  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  be  sold  by 
auction,  nor  to  be  offered  for  sale  at  the  time  of 
the  conscriptions.  From  1792  to  1861,  the  esti- 
mate of  a  noble's  fortune  was  based  on  the  number 
of  serfs  he  owned. 

The  Emperor  Paul  toward  the  close  of  the  18th 
century  (1796-1801)  desiring  to  limit  the  authority 
of  the  proprietors,  issued  an  ukaze  that  the  serfs 
should  not  be  forced,  to  work  for  their  masters  more 
than  three  days  in  the  week,  but  many  paid  no 
attention  to  it,  and  the  serfs  still  had  no  legal  stand- 
ing in  court  in  order  to  make  a  complaint.  There 
were  indeed  enlightened,  humane  proprietors  who 
protected  those  for  whom  they  were  responsible 
from  outside  interference,  and  under  whose  man- 
agement the  life  of  the  serf  was  much  easier  than 
that  of  agricultural  laborers  in  some  countries  who 
are  free,  but  serfage  generally,  was  the  reverse  of 
this  type.  The  worst  suffering  was  from  the 
hands  of  speculators  who  bought  up  the  land  in 
order  to  make  money  in  the  shortest  possible  time, 
and  parted  with  the  land  and  the  families  on  it 
indiscriminately. 

Even  among  uncivilized  tribes  the  Russian  peas- 
ant is  good  natured,  easily  conciliated,  and  patient 


192  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

under  extreme  hardship.     He  readily  adapts  him- 
self to  circumstances. 

In  the  ordinary  relations  which  existed  between 
the  serf  and  the  proprietor  the  manor  land  and 
the  communal  land  were  kept  separate.  From 
the  laborers  on  the  rural  commune  land  or  village 
system, — the  rural  commune  contains  five-sixths 
of  the  population, — where  a  share  of  land  was 
distributed  to  each  serf,  labor  dues,  a  certain  num- 
ber of  days'  labor  per  week,  were  exacted,  also, 
dues  consisting  of  the  products  of  the  farm  and 
the  spinning  wheel,  in  the  case  of  the  absence  of 
the  serfs  who  were  at  work  in  the  cities  or  larger 
towns  but  retaining,  whether  they  desired  it  or 
not,  their  membership  in  the  commune.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  serfs  could  read  and  write  and 
were   enterprising,   self-reliant,    and  independent. 

Emancipation  of  the  Serfs. 

The  Russian  proverb,  "A  story  is  soon  told  but 
a  thing  is  not  soon  done,"  may  be  consistently 
applied  to  their  great  reform,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  events  of  modern  history, — the  Eman- 
cipation of  the  Serfs.  An  effort  was  made  for 
freedom  in  1762,  by  an  insurrection  led  by  a  Cos- 
sack with  a  scheme  for  creating  a  peasant  empire, 
but  he  soon  met  with  defeat  and  his  plan  failed. 

In  1801,  Alexander  I.  attempted  to  amelior- 
ate the  condition  of  the  serfs,  and  entertained 
several  projects  for  a  general  emancipation,  and 
Nicholas  encouraged  the  consideration  of  the  ques- 
tion by  permitting  six  committees  to  be  formed 
for  the  purpose.  The  result  was  that  some  thou- 
sands of  serfs  were  emancipated,  the  custom  of 
giving  grants  of  land  with  peasants  was  abolished, 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  193 

a  number  of  the  worst  masters  were  removed 
from  their  estates,  and  some,  convicted  of  murder, 
were  sent  to  Siberia.  Yet,  when  a  general  eman- 
cipation was  really  inaugurated,  the  leading 
organs  of  the  press  acknowledged  indebtedness 
to  the  Crimean  War  for  opening  the  eyes 
of  the  country  to  the  dark  side  of  their  political 
and  social  organization.  It  produced  an  intel- 
lectual movement  and  a  moral  revival  which  led 
to  gigantic  results.  Their  foes  in  the  Crimea,  said 
a  Russian  writer  of  the  time,  whose  manuscript 
was  widely  circulated  but  never  printed,  were 
"British  statesmen,"  "the  crowned  conspirator  of 
France,"  "treacherous  Austria,"  and  "Western 
Europe  generally."  Militia  regiments  were  every- 
where raised  throughout  the  country,  and  many 
landed  proprietors  spent  large  sums  in  equipping 
volunteer  corps,  but  unscrupulous  members  of  the 
commissary  department  enriched  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  these  patriotic  efforts,  and  the  deficiency 
of  the  country  in  regard  to  the  resources  necessary 
for  a  prolonged  conflict,  were  soon  manifest.  "An- 
other year  of  war,"  wrote  an  eye  witness  in  1855, 
"and  the  whole  of  Southern  Russia  will  be  ruined." 
In  this  conflict  it  was  the  aim  of  the  Tsar  Nich- 
olas to  realize  the  grand  idea  of  Catherine  II.,  con- 
sort of  Peter  III.  who  succeeded  to  his  throne,  of 
driving  the  Turks  out  of  Europe,  but  the  Allies 
were  victorious,  and  even  the  despised  Turks 
made  a  successful  stand  on  the  line  of  the  Danube, 
and  when  he,  the  "Iron  Tsar,"  the  sworn  enemy 
of  liberalism,  died  in  a  soldier's  humble  quarters 
in  the  Crimea,  the  system  he  created,  —  which 
through  the  sacrifice  of  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  to  the  increase  of  militarv  power  proved 
the  chief  cause  it  was  claimed  of  the  national  dis- 

13 


194  RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

asters, — died  with  him,  and  as  soon  as  peace  had 
beenconcluded  Alexander  II.  accepting  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  dying  words  of  Nicholas,  "my  suc- 
cessor may  do  as  he  pleases,  but  I  cannot  change," 
began  a  reign  by  which  the  public  administration 
of  affairs  was  to  be  improved,  in  the  words  of  his 
manifesto  "by  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  the  people,"  not  secretly  by  the 
Administration  as  had  been  the  custom  in  making 
slight  changes. 

In  March,  1856,  soon  after  the  close  of  the 
Crimean  War  Alexander  II.  addressed  to  the 
Marshals  of  the  Noblesse  of  Moscow  the  following 
words : — 

"For  the  removal  of  certain  unfounded  reports 
I  consider  it  necessary  to  declare  to  3^ou  that  I 
have  not  at  present  the  intention  of  annihilating 
serfage,  but,  certainly,  as  you  yourselves  know, 
the  existing  manner  of  possessing  serfs  cannot 
remain  unchanged.  It  is  better  to  abolish  serfage 
from  above,  than  to  await  the  time  when  it  will 
begin  to  abolish  itself  from  below.  I  request  you, 
gentlemen,  to  consider  how  this  can  be  put  into 
execution,  and  to  submit  my  words  to  the  noblesse 
for  their  consideration." 

These  enunciations  were  received  with  indiffer- 
ence, and  further  action  was  indefinitely  postponed, 
to  the  great  disappointment  of  the  Tsar,  who  at 
once  instituted  a  committee  called  "Chief  Com- 
mittee of  Peasant  Affairs,"  composed  of  high 
officers  of  the  state,  and  great  land  owners,  among 
them  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine,  who  should 
privately  work  for  these  ends,  and  who  would 
make  a  study  of  the  subject  for  six  months,  and 
on  the  assumption  that  the  Lithuanian  provinces 
where    the    serfs   were   in    a   miserable    condition 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  195 

desired  it,  "The  Rescript  of  Nazimof"  was  pre- 
pared, empowering  the  proprietors  to  form  com- 
mittees for  the  study  of  this  project  with  a  view 
to  definite  results  in  effecting  the  gradual  abolition 
of  serfage,  and  four  days  later  a  circular  was  sent 
by  direction  of  the  Tsar,  to  the  Governors  and 
Marshals  of  Noblesse  all  over  Russia,  informing 
them  of  the  action  relative  to  the  Lithuanian  Prov- 
inces, and  a  copy  of  the  rescript  was  furnished 
them  in  case  they  were  disposed  to  follow  suit. 
This  circular  produced  an  immense  sensation.  Its 
meaning  was  unmistakable,  and  convincing  to 
loyal  subjects  of  the  Tsar,  for  a  few  weeks  later  he 
made  public  announcement  of  his  wish  that,  with 
the  help  of  God,  and  the  co-operation  of  the 
Noblesse,  the  great  work  would  be  accomplished. 
The  public  press  most  enthusiastically  sustained 
this  liberal  movement  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion and  welcomed  the  dawn  of  a  glorious  epoch 
for  the  nation  in  which  this  obstacle  to  moral 
progress,  a  relic  of  barbarism,  should  be  removed, 
and  Russia  be  placed  on  equality  with  the  nations 
of  the  West,  and  with  these  advocates  were  joined 
a  majority  of  the  noblesse,  among  whom  were 
numerous  educated  young  enthusiasts,  while  some 
still  clung  to  serfage  as  an  indispensable  source 
of  revenue  not  to  be  obtained  except  under  the 
rigid  rule  of  the  master,  and  a  part  of  the  land 
was  to  be  let' go  to  the  peasants.  These  consider- 
ations formed  an  adverse  current  which  was  felt 
throughout  the  country,  but  no  open  opposition 
to  the  will  of  the  Tsar  was  allowed  to  manifest 
itself,  because  of  its  utter  futility.  Still,  when  in 
1857,  it  became  evident  that  the  emancipation  of 
the  serfs  was  really  at  hand  the  prospect  raised 


196  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

terrible  forebodings  in  the  minds  of  masters,  stew- 
ards, and  employers  of  serfs.  By  law,  it  appeared 
that  the  peasants  would  receive  the  land  which 
they  occupied  on  sufferance,  comprising  half  of 
the  entire  arable  land  of  some  estates,  but  no  pas- 
turage, and  it  was  feared  that  the  emancipated 
peasants  would  be  content  to  live  by  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  own  land,  and  would  not  consent  on 
any  terms  to  work  for  their  former  masters. 

During  the  year  1858,  committees  were  formed 
for  the  purposes  of  emancipation  in  every  province 
where  serfage  existed,  the  projects  which  they  pro- 
posed being  always  subject  to  revision  and  approval 
or  rejection  by  the  Government.  The  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  movement  were  intended 
to  accomplish  the  work  of  emancipation  by  allow- 
ing the  serfs  to  remain  for  a  time  on  the  land  sub- 
ject to  the  authority  of  the  proprietors,  and  during 
this  time  they  should  become  possessors,  by  many 
payments  or  by  labor,  of  their  houses  and  gardens, 
and  have  the  temporary  use  of  a  certain  quantity 
of  land  sufficient  for  their  own  support,  and  their 
taxes  to  the  proprietors  and  the  State.  The  limit 
of  this  transition  period  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  prescribed.  The  next  move  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  "Elaboration  Commission,"  composed 
of  officials  and  landed  proprietors  named  by  the 
Tsar,  which  formulated  a  new  plan,  approved  by 
the  Tsar,  in  which  the  idea  of  gradual  emancipa- 
tion was  eliminated,  and  its  place  was  supplied  by 
a  general  law  for  the  complete  abolition  of  the 
authority  of  the  proprietor  over  the  serf.  Thus 
the  serfs  were  to  be  transformed  into  small  pro- 
prietors of  a  commune  or  village,  possessing  a 
house  and  garden  and  a  section  of  communal  land. 
The  serf  was  to  be  declared  personally  free,  and 


RUSSIAN   LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  197 

a  price  was  to  be  fixed  by  Government  for  the 
rent  of  the  land.  As  to  the  amount,  that  was 
Hmited  to  the  land  actually  enjoyed  by  the  peas- 
ants. Before  the  project  became  a  4aw,  deputies 
from  the  Provincial  Committees  were  summoned 
to  St.  Petersburg  for  consultation  in  matters  of 
detail  before  the  commission,  but  this  was  a  mere 
formality  and  added  nothing  to  the  influence  of 
the  Provincial  Committees,  or  to  future  results. 
The  autocratic  power  remained  supreme.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  Tsar,  "The  autocratic  power  created 
serfage,  and  the  autocratic  power  ought  to  abolish 
it." 

In  1861,  as  the  time  drew  nearer  there  was  great 
excitement  all  over  Russia.  An  actor  in  one  of  the 
St.  Petersburg  theatres  shouted  from  the  stage,  — 
"Let  us  proclaim  throughout  all  Russia  that  the 
time  has  come  for  tearing  up  evil  by  the  roots!" 
And  the  audience  responded  with  frantic  demon- 
strations of  enthusiasm.  Speech  was  free,  open, 
and  unrestrained  by  police  or  press  censors,  and 
public  attention  was  absorbed  by  the  great  practi- 
cal issues  of  the  day.  The  Crimean  war  had  shown 
the  necessity  of  constructing  railroads,  improving 
roads,  and  steamboat  communication  on  the  rivers, 
of  developing  the  natural  resources,  and  had  taught 
them  the  lesson  that  even  an  efficient  army  could 
not  be  produced  from  an  ignorant  population. 
Accordingly  in  current  speech  and  in  the  public 
press  different  methods  of  education  were  discussed, 
and  reforms  in  all  the  branches  of  the  civil  service, 
and  as  a  result  of  all  this  they  expected  an  increase 
of  military  power  and  the  consequent  respect  of 
Western  nations. 

For  the  furtherance  of  these  reforming  projects, 
for  the  reason  that  twenty  millions  of  the  people, 


198  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

one  third  of  the  population,  were  in  a  state  of 
bondage,  precedence  was  given  to  the  question  of 
the  condition  of  the  serfs.  There  were  100,247 
landed  proprietors,  and  of  these  more  than  41,000 
were  possessors  of  less  than  twenty-one  male  serfs. 
A  proprietor  who  was  owner  of  500  serfs  was  not 
considered  very  rich,  and  there  were  only  3,803 
of  these.  There  were  a  few  whose  possessions 
were  enormous.  One  of  the  nobles  possessed 
more  than  150,000  male  serfs,  more  than  300,000 
souls;  the  latter  estimate  naturally  including 
females,  though  the  Russians  have  a  popular  say- 
ing that  "Women  have  no  souls  at  all,  but  only 
a  vapor."  Another  noble  owned  more  than  half  a 
million  of  acres  of  land,  another  extensive  mines, 
but  there  were  few  very  rich  families.  By  far 
the  greater  part  of  the  territory  belonged  to  the 
state,  and  one-half  of  the  rural  population  were 
state  peasants  whose  condition  differed  from  the 
other  serfs  in  that  they  had  more  land  and  more 
liberty,  and  their  position  was  not  so  precarious. 

Agriculture  and  the  industries  languished  for  the 
lack  of  free  labor,  and  upon  the  nation 's  honor  was 
the  stigma  of  slavery. 

The  emancipation  law  which  was  signed  February 
19,  1861,  Old  Style,  or  March  3d  as  we  reckon  time, 
liberated  twenty  millions  of  serfs.  The  manifesto 
with  which  the  peasantry  is  said  to  have  been  dis- 
appointed, was  read  in  all  the  churches  and  con- 
tained   these    fundamental    principles,    to    wit: — 

"1.  That  the  serfs  should  at  once  receive  the 
civil  rights  of  the  free  rural  classes,  and  that  the 
authority  of  the  proprietors  should  be  replaced  by 
communal  self-government. 

2.  That  the  rural  communes  should  as  far  as 
possible  retain  the  land  they  actually  held,  and 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY  199 

should  in  return  pay  to  the  proprietor  certain 
yearly  dues  in  money  or  labor. 

3.  That  the  Government  should  by  means  of 
credit,  assist  the  communes  to  redeem  these  dues, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  purchase  the  lands  ceded  to 
them  in  usufruct." 

The  domestic  serfs  should  continue  to  serve 
their  masters  two  years,  and  thereafter  they  should 
be  completely  free,  but  would  have  no  claim  on  the 
land.  The  disappointment  in  the  minds  of  the 
peasants  was  in  the  disposition  of  the  land.  Many 
desired  that  all  the  land  should  be  given  to  the 
Communes,  making  the  emancipation  in  accordance 
with  traditional  right  and  their  material  advantage, 
instead  of  which  they  were  still  to  pay  dues  on  land 
they  believed  to  be  their  own  by  right.  The 
Noblesse  were  well  pleased  with  the  manifesto. 

After  a  delay  of  three  months,  "Arbiters  of  the 
Peace' '  were  appointed,  to  regulate  the  future  rela- 
tions between  the  proprietors  and  peasantry  and  in 
the  interval  cases  of  insubordination  were  frequent, 
and  even  riots,  when  order  was  preserved  by  the 
calling  out  of  the  troops.  The  "Arbiters  of  the 
Peace' '  when  organized  restored  order  and  regu- 
lated the  land  question,  issued  charters,  etc.  be- 
tween the  proprietors  and  serfs,  legalizing  the  new 
agreements,  with  or  without  their  consent.  In  this 
reconstruction  many  differences  were  to  be  recon- 
ciled owing  to  the  distrust  of  the  freed  serfs,  but 
gradually  they  came  to  know  the  situation  better 
and  to  help  in  the  progress  of  the  work,  which  has 
advanced  slowly  but  surely,  notwithstanding  the 
complaints  in  some  instances  of  the  Noblesse, 
through  the  wonderful  tact  of  the  conscientious 
"Arbiters  of  the  Peace.' ' 

The  law  relating  to  the  dues  was  as  follows: — 


200  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

The  dues  were  capitalised  at  six  per  cent  and  the 
Government  paid  at  once  to  the  proprietors  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole  sum.  The  peasants  were  to  pay- 
to  the  proprietor  the  remaining  fifth,  either  at  once 
or  in  installments,  and  to  the  Government  six  per 
cent,  for  forty-nine  years,  on  the  sum  advanced. 
This  arrangement  was  willingly  acceded  to  by  the 
proprietors  but  the  peasants  were  so  backward  in 
their  payments,  that  in  most  cases  their  fifth  had 
to  be  remitted. 

Of  this  gigantic,  though  gradual,  reform  the 
Tsar  Alexander  II.  is  acknowleged  by  all  to  be  the 
chief  and  most  energetic  and  judicious  promoter. 
He  was  ably  assisted  by  his  brother  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine  and  the  Grand  Duchess  Helena,  a 
German  Princess,  aided  by  the  Noblesse  and  the 
landed  proprietors,  who  when  assured  that  eman- 
cipation was  inevitable  joined  enthusiastically  in 
its  execution,  and  also  by  the  peasantry  of  the  bet- 
ter sort  as  soon  as  they  comprehended  the  advan- 
tages of  the  law  which  gave  them  back  their  original 
status  in  the  social  scale,  and  made  them  once  more 
personally  free. 

After  Emancipation. 

It  was  so-called  freedom  in  1861,  but  they  had  to 
serve  as  they  had  done  for  two  years  longer,  for  the 
law  had  a  provision  enjoining  them  to  obey  and 
work  as  hard  as  of  old  until  some  new  arrangement 
should  be  made.  On  appealing  to  the  authorities 
the  field  work  was  executed,  after  a  fashion,  but 
the  harvest  suffered  for  a  few  years,  until  the  peas- 
ants began  to  realize  the  burden  of  the  taxes  they 
were  obliged  to  pay  on  the  land,  as  well  as  support 
themselves,  and  consented  to  work  in  the  fields  of 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  201 

their  former  owners  for  a  moderate  compensation, 
taking  advantage  of  the  scarcity  of  labor,  and  tak- 
ing their  leave  on  a  word  or  two  too  much  from 
their  employers,  who  are  dependent  upon  them. 
Previous  to  emancipation  it  was  said  that  the 
Russians  had  little  or  no  practical  acquaintance 
with  pauperism,  but  now  some  became  fugitives, 
and  made  it  a  permanent  condition  of  life,  wander- 
ing through  the  cities  and  villages  as  professing 
pilgrims  or  beggars,  and  were  supported  by  the 
alms  giving  of  the  merchants,  the  public  generally 
and  the  monasteries. 

The  Rural  Communes. 

The  government  of  the  Rural  Commune  or  Mir, 
as  established  by  the  Act  of  Emancipation,  is  by  a 
Village  Assembly  and  a  Village  Elder,  but  the 
Elder 's  authority  is  limited  by  the  heads  of  house- 
holds, all  having  a  common  responsibility  and  pay- 
ing a  fixed  sum  into  the  common  treasury;  even 
the  time  of  planting,  mowing  and  harvesting,  being 
regulated  by  the  Assembly,  and  all  the  households 
are  equally  responsible  for  the  taxes  and  dues. 
The  consent  of  the  Assembly  must  be  obtained  if  a 
peasant  desires  to  work  in  the  larger  towns,  for  his 
liabilities  must  be  made  secure. 

Every  year  the  Village  has  to  pay  a  certain  sum 
into  the  Imperial  Treasury,  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  male  peasants ;  each  Village  distributing  the 
land,  according  to  its  own  judgment,  with  taxes 
and  dues  in  proportion  to  the  land,  sometimes 
according  to  the  working  power  of  the  families, 
which  may  change  every  few  years,  males  and 
females  alike  working  on  the  land. 

In  the  meetings  of  the  assemblies  the  majority 


202  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

rules,  and  is  decided  by  a  Court  of  the  members, 
composed  of  heads  of  households  of  both  sexes, 
standing  in  groups  out  of  doors. 

The  office  of  Village  Elder  is  sometimes  elective, 
at  others  he  is  appointed  by  the  landed  proprietor. 
The  office  is  not  sought  for,  the  duties  being  trouble- 
some and  annoying,  and  the  pay  small.  In  the 
allotment  of  the  land  the  number  of  shares  of  which 
may  or  may  not  be  of  advantage,  according  to  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  each,  the  decision  of  the 
Commune  is  accepted  without  demur.  Some  of 
these  divisions  take  place  annually,  others  at  irreg- 
ular intervals.  The  system  compels  the  peasant 
to  possess  land  whether  he  or  she  desires  it  or  not. 
Every  peasant,  by  the  simple  fact  of  his  birth, 
possesses  an  inalienable  right  to  a  share  of  the  land. 

All  that  is  necessary  for  their  existence,  their 
houses,  land,  agricultural  implements  etc.,  are 
exempt  from  sequestration,  and  cannot  be  taken 
for  debt.  The  peasants  on  the  land  belonging  to 
the  state,  have  no  masters,  but  are  not  allowed  to 
change  their  official  domicile.  They  pay  taxes  and 
dues.  Many  of  them  have  left  the  villages  and 
have  amassed  fortunes  in  the  cities,  still  retaining 
their  hold  on  the  land  by  paying  the  taxes.  The 
remaining  land  belongs  to  rich  nobles,  who  rarely 
visit  their  estates,  and  the  condition  of  the  peasants 
is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  state  peasants, 
while  others  live  on  their  estates. 

Now,  forty-three  of  the  forty-nine  years  have 
passed,  and  in  January,  1904,  the  Tsar  Nicholas  II. 
grandson  of  Alexander  II.,  in  response  to  calls  for 
legislation  relative  to  a  new  draft  of  the  present 
code,  with  complaints  of  arbitrary  conduct  by  the 
administrative  machinery  from  the  highest  assem- 
blies to  the  local  committees,  stipulates  that  changes 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  203 

on  three  points  shall  be  reserved  from  discussion, 
namely,  that  the  peasant  class  must  remain  entirely- 
separate,  legally,  from  the  other  classes;  that  the 
Commune  is  to  remain  untouched  by  legislation, 
and  that  the  peasant  lands  are  to  remain  inalien- 
able. The  autocratic  power  still  remains  supreme. 
March  3,  1904,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Emanci- 
pation of  the  serfs  the  anniversary  was  officially- 
observed  throughout  the  empire  as  a  general  holi- 
day and  with  special  services  in  the  churches. 
Thousands  stood  in  the  open  air,  uncovered,  in  the 
great  central  market  of  St.  Petersburg  chanting  a 
Te  Deum. 

Death  of  Alexander  II. 

I  was  returning  to  my  room  in  Paris,  late  one 
Sunday  night  in  March,  1881,  having  passed  an 
agreeable  evening,  first  dining  at  my  old  class- 
mate's, E.  D.  Boit's,  then  listening  to  some  music 
and  meeting  some  pleasant  people  at  the  house  of 
another  artist  Mr.  G.  P.  A.  Healy,  and  last  calling 
with  Wad  Longfellow  upon  the  Kings,  when  I 
heard  a  newsman  on  the  boulevard  crying  out  some- 
thing exciting  though  I  could  not  catch  what  it  was. 
I  bought  his  extra,  "le  Soir,"  took  it  to  my  room, 
and  found  that  the  news  was  nothing  less  than 
this  time  the  successful  assassination  on  the  13th  of 
the  Emperor  of  Russia. 

It  made  quite  an  impression  upon  me  as  I  thought 
it  over,  not  only  because  I  had  met  the  Tsar  two  or 
three  times,  but  also  from  the  interest  I  felt  he  had 
taken  in  the  cause  of  the  Union  during  our  civil 
war ;  that  he  among  the  crowned  heads  of  the  world 
had  been,  if  not  our  only,  at  least  our  out-spoken 
friend  and  sympathizer. 


204  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

How  much  in  common  there  was  both  in  the  life 
and  death  of  Alexander  II.  and  Abraham  Lincoln! 
Each  of  these  men  in  his  own  land  had  been  the 
originator  and  bold  champion  of  a  plan  of  eman- 
cipation, and  each  of  them  had  at  length  fallen  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin! 

Prince  Kropotkin  in  1899,  gave  to  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  the  following  account  of  the  death  of  the 
Tsar:— 

"A  bomb  was  thrown  under  the  Tsar's  iron-clad 
carriage.  Several  Circassians  of  the  escort  were 
wounded.  Rysakoff,  who  flung  the  bomb,  was 
arrested  on  the  spot.  Then,  although  the  coach- 
man of  the  Tsar  earnestly  advised  him  not  to  get 
out,  saying  that  he  could  drive  him  still  in  the 
slightly  damaged  carriage,  he  stepped  out.  He 
felt  that  his  military  dignity  required  him  to  see  the 
wounded  Circassians,  to  condole  with  them,  as  he 
had  done  with  the  wounded  during  the  Turkish 
war,  when  a  mad  storming  of  Plevna,  doomed  to 
end  in  terrible  disaster,  was  made  on  the  day  of  his 
fete. 

He  approached  Rysakoff  and  asked  him  some- 
thing, and  as  he  passed  close  by  another  young 
man,  Grinevetsky,  the  latter  threw  his  bomb  at  their 
feet,  between  himself  and  Alexander  II.,  so  that 
both  of  them  should  be  killed  by  the  terrible  en- 
gine.    They  lived  but  a  few  hours. 

There  Alexander  II.  lay  upon  the  snow,  pro- 
fusely bleeding,  abandoned  by  every  one  of  his 
followers!  All  had  disappeared.  It  was  cadets, 
returning  from  the  parade,  who  lifted  the  bleeding 
Tsar  from  the  snow,  and  put  him  in  a  sledge,  cover- 
ing his  shivering  body  with  a  cadet  mantle,  and  his 
bare  head  with  a  cadet  cap.  And  it  was  one  of  the 
Terrorists,  Emelianoff,  with  a  bomb  wrapped  in  a 


RUSSIAN    LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  205 

paper  under  his  arm,  who,  at  the  risk  of  being 
arrested  on  the  spot  and  hanged,  rushed  with  the 
cadets  to  help  the  wounded  man!  Human  nature 
is  full  of  these  contrasts.' ' 

It  was  at  the  canal  bridge  near  the  Nevski  Pros- 
pect that  the  bomb  which  shattered  the  body  of 
the  Tsar  below  the  waist  was  thrown,  and  he  died 
within  an  hour  at  his  rooms  in  the  Winter  Palace. 
It  is  said  that  these  rooms  and  their  contents  have 
never  been  disturbed  in  the  least  since  the  murdered 
Tsar  left  them  for  his  drive.  The  hands  of  the 
clock  on  the  mantel  still  point  to  33  minutes  past  3, 
the  moment  the  Tsar  expired. 

Monument  at  Moscow. 

August  28,  1898,  a  monument  to  Tsar  Alexander 
II.  was  unveiled  at  Moscow.  His  grandson,  the 
present  Tsar,  Nicholas  II.  issued  a  ukase  referring 
to  the  event  and  eulogizing  the  deeds  of  the  de- 
ceased, notably  the  liberation  of  the  peasants  from 
bondage,  which  earned  him  the  title  of  "The  Deliv- 
erer,' '  in  the  mouth  of  a  grateful  people.  The  clos- 
ing words  were  as  follows : — 

Medals  Made  Hereditary. 

"Wishing  to  seal  more  firmly  the  memory  of  this  histor- 
ical deed,  we  have  resolved  to  make  hereditary  the  wearing 
and  possession  of  the  medals  he  conferred  upon  his  co- 
operators,  as  a  sign  of  his  gracious  acknowledgment  of 
their  labors. " 

The  Tsar  also  sent  to  M.  Constantin  Pobiedonost- 
seff,  Procurator  General  of  the  Holy  Synod,  the 
decoration  of  the  Order  of  St.  Andrew,  together 
with  an  imperial  rescript  reminding  him  that  he,  of 


206  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

all  the  close  co-operators  with  the  deceased  mon- 
arch, alone  remained  in  possession  of  the  chiefship 
of  the  administrative  department  then  intrusted  to 
him. 

The  monument  was  unveiled  by  Emperor  Nicho- 
las II.  at  3  o  'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Czarina,  the  Queen  of  the  Hellenes,  the 
Cabinet,  the  German  and  Austrian  Ambassadors, 
deputations  from  all  the  land  and  naval  forces  of 
Russia  and  the  Austrian  Uhlans  Regiment. 

The  entire  audience  knelt  while  the  clergy  recited 
a  prayer  in  memory  of  the  deceased. 

At  the  moment  of  the  unveiling  the  troops  pre- 
sented arms,  and  a  salute  of  320  guns  was  fired. 
Then  the  troops,  with  the  Emperor  at  the  head, 
marched  past  the  monument  amid  the  enthusiastic 
cheers  of  the  people. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  207 


CHAPTER  TENTH. 

EUROPE    AND    AMERICA    IN    1870.       DEMETRIUS 
GOUBAREFF.       RUSSIA    AND    THE    UNITED 
STATES. 

"Peace  —  but  the  ships  of  steel  increase, 
And   statesmen   watch,    perplexed: 
What  is  the  thing  we  folk  term  'peace'? 
Where  will  the  war  be  next  ? ' ' 

—  Edwin  L.  Sabin. 

In  London,  Paris  and  Nice. 

Introductory  Remarks. 

The  ideas  I  give  of  Europe  contained  in  the  fol- 
lowing sketch  written  in  London  in  April,  1870, 
came  to  me  from  a  residence  of  two  years  there,  dur- 
ing which  time  I  had  been  constantly  watching 
events,  and  had  been  thrown  with  many  of  the 
leading  statesmen  and  financiers  of  the  United 
States. 

What  I  pretended  to  know  of  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion, I  learned  from  the  journey  I  made  the  pre- 
vious autumn  through  Russia,  Turkey  and  Egypt, 
with  General  Banks.  It  then  struck  me  that  it 
would  be  well  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  American 
people  to  what  was  passing  there  as  impartially  as 
possible,  as  thus  far  the  English  accounts  had  been 
one-sided.  I  may  appear  to  favor  Russia  too 
strongly,  but  the  boat  in  which  we  made  the  journey 


208  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

from  Odessa  to  Egypt,  and  then  through  the  Suez 
Canal,  was  filled  with  Russian  representatives,  per- 
sons representing  almost  all  the  Russian  interests, 
and  they  spoke  to  us,  being  Americans,  most  freely 
on  these  subjects,  and  in  such  a  way  that  we  were 
much  impressed  with  the  high  ambitions  of  that 
empire.  It  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  made 
the  journey  under  more  favorable  auspices. 

The  picture  I  drew  of  the  future  of  the  United 
States  was  very  strong,  but  the  more  one  lives 
away  from  America,  the  more  he  appreciates  her 
greatness,  and  the  position  she  must  surely  hold 
among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  I  thought  it 
good  to  put  the  plain  facts  and  statistics  before 
Europeans  as  well  as  Americans. 

This  paper,  which  I  offered  to  the  press,  did  not 
appear  originally  in  the  form  of  a  contribution,  as 
the  war  suddenly  broke  out  between  France  and 
Prussia  before  this  was  accomplished,  but  I  had 
copies  of  it  printed  m  a  pamphlet  for  private  circu- 
lation, and  in  that  way  it  was  quite  generally  read 
and  discussed. 

I  was  of  the  opinion  that  neither  Americans  nor 
Europeans  were  sufficiently  alive  to  the  position 
which  the  United  States  was  destined  soon  to  hold 
among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  that  they  ought 
to  be  diligently  preparing  themselves  for  it. 

Having  faith  that  the  Great  Republic  will  not 
only  remain  undivided,  but  increase  in  territory, 
population  and  strength,  it  logically  follows  that 
she  must  later  be  the  controlling  power.  In  her, 
humanity,  commingled  together  and  then  reorgan- 
ized, will  practically  carry  out  the  idea  of  self- 
government,  and  such  a  government,  if  successful, 
will  be  irresistible. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  209 

"Europe  and  America  in   1870." 

"Wars  and  rumors  of  wars  must  be,  it  would  seem,  for 
many  years  to  come  the  staple  of  talk  in  Europe.  Nor  is 
this  remarkable,  so  many  different  nationalities  and  lan- 
guages, so  much  intelligence  and  energy,  and  so  many 
shades  of  ambition  being  concentrated  in  a  small  space  of 
territory.  Thus  far  in  the  history  of  the  Old  World  those 
in  power  have  generally  sought  by  arms  or  state  craft  to 
strengthen  the  country  in  whose  destiny  they  were  inter- 
ested.     Constant   wars   have   been   the   result. 

The  principles  of  international  interest,  of  working  in 
harmony  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  globe,  of  which 
perhaps  the  best  exponent  is  trade  and  the  necessary  con- 
comitant peace,  have  been  unfortunately  considered 
beneath  the  dignity  of  those  who  by  birth,  by  fortune,  or 
by  talent,  have  "been  able  to  hold  leading  positions. 
Happily  this  is  being  changed.  The  great  discoveries 
of  the  last  fifty  years  have  given  the  world  such  an  impulse 
as  it  never  received  before.  The  comparative  ease  of 
making  money  and  of  possessing  it  in  safety,  has  caused 
persons  to  look  after  their  own  interest  more  than  that  of 
those  who  chanced  to  be  their  rulers.  But  the  process  of 
change  is  slow,  and  emperors  and  kings  are  still  able  to 
make  wars  even  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  their  subjects. 
Wars  are  still  not  only  a  possibility,  but  a  probability,  and 
every  one  is  on  the  lookout  for  them.  When  there  is  lack 
of  other  business,  the  cabinets  of  Europe  will  turn  their 
attention  to  the  always  vexed  question  of  the  balance  of 
power. 

When  newspaper  editors  are  in  want  of  interesting 
matter  to  fill  their  sheets,  they  can  ever  bring  out  a  glow- 
ing statement  of  the  Eastern  question,  or  dilate  upon  the 
relations   existing    between   France   and  Prussia. 

The  map  of  Europe  never  ceases  to  be  an  entertaining 
study,  and  so  a  slight  review  of  the  present  state  of  affairs 
there,  as  seen  and  judged  by  the  disinterested  traveller, 
may  perhaps  offer  some  points  of  interest  to  those  who  are 
unable  to  make  the  journey  themselves. 

No  one  nation  in  Europe,  today,  seems  to  have  a  pre- 
ponderating influence  over  the  others. 

England  and  France. 

England  and  France  for  a  long  time  the  most  powerful 
have  not,  during  the  last  ten  years,  been   making  anj'  inter- 


210  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

national  progress,  and  if  they  have  not  by  this  been  actu- 
ally losing  their  influence,  they  have  remained  in  a  state 
of  inaction,  while  others  have  made  great  advances  to 
equal  or  eclipse  them.  Nor  is  there  to  be  seen  in  them 
any  prospect  of   changing  their  policy. 

England  is  so  much  occupied  with  domestic  questions, 
especially  those  relating  to  Ireland,  that  she  can  give  little 
time  or  thought  to  anything  else,  unless  of  very  great 
import. 

In  France  the  holding  the  various  discordant  elements 
in  check,  and  forming  out  of  them  a  strong  and  popular 
government,  is  absorbing  all  the  talent  of  her  statesmen. 
The  aggressive  enterprises  that  the  existing  government, 
or  rather  that  its  head,  has  lately  undertaken,  have  been 
so  fruitless  and  so  doubtfully  indorsed  by  the  people,  that 
it  is  not  probable  anything  of  the  kind  will  again  be  tried 
unless  upon  an  almost  certainty  of  success, 

Prussia. 

Prussia  may  with  a  certain  show  of  reason  consider 
herself  the  leader,  but  her,  so  to  speak,  inland  position, 
and  the  consequent  difficulty  of  her  having  great  naval 
or  commercial  power,  prevent  her  from  taking  that  place 
to  which  her  arms  and  politics  might  entitle  her.  Besides 
this  her  relations  with  both  Northern  and  Southern  Ger- 
many are  in  a  preparatory  state,  and  the  uncertainty  of 
her  future  movements,  and  of  how  they  will  be  accepted, 
is  a  present  point  of  weakness.  She  is  recognized  to  be 
the  strongest  German  nation,  but  the  smaller  independ- 
encies, certain  though  they  may  be  of  becoming  event- 
ually absorbed,  are  tenacious  of  preserving  their  individu- 
ality as  long  as  possible.  They  hesitate  about  siding  with 
or  against  Prussia,  and  as  she  cannot  well  now  press  the 
question,  matters  are  more  or  less  at  a  stand-still. 

Austria. 

Austria  cannot,  since  the  Peace  of  Prague,  be  regarded 
as  a  first-class  power  of  Europe;  she  must  regain  her  lost 
strength  first,  and  for  some  time  to  come  she  will  best 
attempt  this  by  soHdifying  her  relations  with  Hungary, 
and  by  infusing  more  advanced  principles  of  government 
into  the  authorities  at  Vienna. 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  211 

Spain. 

In  Spain,  affairs  are  still  holding  their  uneasy  course, 
and  the  world  looks  on  astonished  at  the  way  the  country 
is  taking  care  of  itself;  so  many  forms  of  government 
proposed  by  so  many  different  candidates  that,  in  reality, 
there  is  next  to  none  whatever,  but,  to  balance  this,  a  fair 
amount  of  contentment  among  the  people.  Not  knowing 
what  they  wish,  the  Spaniards  drift  on  very  well  with 
what  they  have. 

Italy. 

In  Italy,  economy  is  so  necessary  to  preserve  the 
country,  that  no  thought  can  be  given  to  any  foreign 
ventures,  while  at  Rome  all  other  questions  are  dropped, 
so  long  as  the  Ecumenical  Council  is  sitting  there  in  state. 

Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden. 

Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden,  are  engaged  in  dis- 
cussing topics  of  much  local  interest,  and  which  may 
perhaps,  result  in  the  unity  of  the  three  nations,  but  they 
will  have  little  influence  upon  the  general  march  of  events 
in  Europe. 

Russia. 

Russia  remains,  as  the  last  great  nation  to  be  discussed, 
and  here,  on  the  stepping  stone  between  Eastern  and 
Western  ideas  and  civilizations,  can  be  found  the  germs 
of  those  movements  which  if  not  immediately  forthcoming, 
will,  when  they  burst  forth,  startle  the  world  \\'ith  their 
grandeur,  and  essentially  change  the  features  of  the  map 
of  Europe. 

The  Russian  Empire  as  it  exists  today,  —  the  Russia 
of  Alexander  II.  and  Gortschakoff,  —  the  country  which 
has  emancipated  twenty  million  serfs  and  offered  an  equal 
trial  by  jury  to  all  its  citizens,  this  nation,  which,  day  by 
day  is  increasing  its  territory  and  influence  at  home,  and 
which  during  a  civil  war  in  the  other  hemisphere  extended 
a  kindly  though  many  will  say  a  not  disinterested  hand 
to  the  party  which  represented  progressive  principles,  the 
Russian  Empire,  the  friend  of  the  American  Republic,  has 
many  qualities  which  might  justly  entitle  it  to  leadership, 
but  the  strange  mixture  of  European  and  Asiatic  elements 


212  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

in  that  country,  so  great  in  extent  and  so  ambitious  of 
progress,  as  interpreted  by  it,  is  the  cause  of  a  confusion 
of  ideas,  and  prevents  that  unanimity  of  action  which  is 
necessary  to  insure  the  respect  and  obedience  of  others. 

Moreover,  although  the  spirit  of  the  people  is  extremely 
democratic,  the  policy  of  the  government  is  autocratic, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  this  century  it  is  impossible  for 
any  but  a  government  founded  on  popular  principles  and 
supported  by  the  people  themselves,  to  command  the 
esteem  and  the  envy  of  the  masses  in  other  portions  of  the 
civilized  world,  and  thus  to  give  them  laws.  The  seeds 
of  dominion  are  there,  but  it  will  take  time  for  them  to 
ripen  and  bear  their  fruit. 

The  Equipoise  of  Power. 

From  this  slight  review  of  the  position  of  the  European 
nations  in  1870,  one  cannot  help  being  impressed  with  the 
equipoise  of  power,  and  concluding  that  this  itself  is  a 
strong  guarantee  of  peace,  but,  in  reality  the  peace  is  not 
well  founded,  and  cannot  be  abiding.  It  is  an  armed 
peace,  and  as  such,  may  cause  the  people  deep  anxiety. 
Several  millions  of  men  in  Europe,  today,  are  wearing  the 
dress  and  drawing  the  pay  of  soldiers,  and  all  for  nothing. 
Disarming  is  continually  talked  of,  but  is  not  being  begun, 
nor  will  it  be,  as  long  as  the  nations  are  mutually  afraid 
of  each  other.  The  pursuits  of  industry  and  commerce, 
which  would  develop  with  increasing  force  if  peace  were 
secure  for  ten  or  twenty  years,  are  now,  to  a  great  extent, 
held  in  check.  Capitalists  are  afraid  of  embarking  in 
great  enterprises,  as  they  know  not  what  may  take  place 
before  they  will  be  completed.  Thousands  of  laborers, 
able-bodied  and  intelligent,  through  fear  of  being  drawn 
into  military  service  are  leaving  the  lands  of  their  birth 
and  emigrating  to  distant  shores,  there  to  seek  their 
fortunes:  a  great  gain  to  the  countries  which  receive  them, 
but  a  more  than  proportionate  loss  to  those  they  leave, 
as  their  places  cannot  be  filled. 

One  should  not  seriously  wish  for  war,  except  in  the 
most  extreme  cases,  and  where  the  prospect  of  the  good 
to  follow  seems  more  than  to  compensate  for  the  immedi- 
ate evil. 

Looking  into  the  Future. 

Without  admitting  this  to  be  the  case  now,  but  believing 
that  the  present  peace  cannot,  from  the  press  of  circum- 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  213 

stances  last  many  years,  let  us  look  a  little  into  the  future, 
and  try  to  divine  where  it  will  be  first  broken,  and  what 
will  be  the  results.  It  is  to  the  East  of  Europe  we  must 
turn  our  thoughts,  and  here  it  seems  as  if  great  events 
would  soon  be  in  motion.  The  problem  to  be  solved  is 
the  dismemberment  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  the  con- 
sequent independence  of  one  nation,  and  the  increase  in 
power  of  several  others. 

The  actors  in  the  drama  will  be  Turkey,  Russia,  Egypt, 
Greece,  and  perhaps  the  Slavonic  portions  of  Austria,  the 
theatre  will  be  parts  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  and  the 
most  interested  spectators  will  be  France,  England,  and 
the  United  States. 

The  Possession  of  Constantinople. 

It  must  be  well  borne  in  mind  that  the  integrity  of 
Turkey  has  been  guaranteed  for  many  years,  if  not  act- 
ually preserved,  by  the  cabinets  of  France  and  England. 
So  many  pamphlets  and  articles  have  been  written  by 
those  representing  the  interests  of  those  governments  on 
one  side,  and  so  little  has  been  said  on  the  opposite  side, 
that  it  has  almost  become  an  acknowledged  fact  that  the 
carrying  out  of  this  idea  is  necessary  for  the  peace  of 
Europe  and  of  the  world.  Their  arguments  are  strong, 
but  will  not  influence  him  who  visits  Constantinople  with 
an  unprejudiced  mind.  The  key  to  the  riddle  is  the 
possession  of  that  city.  England  and  France  know  that 
they  themselves  cannot  obtain  it,  and  this  being  the  case, 
they  are  determined  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  prevent  any 
other  nation  from  doing  so.  It  is  almost  impossible  for 
one  who  has  not  been  there  himself,  to  form  a  fair  opinion 
of  what  should  be  the  future  of  that  beautiful  city  of  the 
East,  but  once  there,  the  decision  is  soon  reached  that  it 
should  no  longer  belong  to  the  Turks,  but  to  some  people, 
whoever  they  may  be,  who  will  do  justice  to  the  advantages 
Nature  has  given  it. 

Constantinople  is  so  placed  that  it  is  one  of  the  keys  of 
the  waters  of  the  world,  and  as  such  it  ought  to  be  a  great 
commercial  centre.  The  city,  as  it  now  is,  renders  this 
impossible,  and  the  Turks,  judging  from  their  antecedents 
and  their  present  manner  of  existence,  are  incapable  of 
change. 

A  distinguished  statesman  of  the  United  States  (Gen. 
N.  P.  Banks)  one  day  asked  the  Turkish  minister  at  Wash- 


214  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND  SOCIETY 

ington,  if  in  his  country  there  were  many  persons  cele- 
brated for  their  success  in  finance  or  business. 

The  Minister  slowly  opened  his  dark  mysterious  eyes, 
and  with  a  half-amused,  half-pitying  gaze,  replied:  — 

'Sir,  my  countrymen  know  nothing  of  affairs,  the  Turks 
are  warriors. ' 

In  the  quiet  answer  of  that  Turk,  a  man  who  held  not 
only  a  high  position  in  his  own  country,  but  had  also  seen 
the  active  life  in  America,  there  is  a  meaning  which  one 
cannot  well  appreciate  who  has  not  been  among  the  people 
of  whom  he  spoke.  They  seem  to  belong  to  a  different 
age  and  world  from  ours.  They  know  almost  nothing 
of  the  wonderful  things  every  day  done  in  this  nineteenth 
century,  and,  if  they  are  told,  they  take  but  little  interest, 
and  are  incapable  of  comprehending  them. 

As  already  stated  the  city  of  Constantinople,  until 
radically  changed,  does  not  admit  of  greatness.  Some 
of  the  civilizing  appliances  of  this  centurj^  judiciously  put 
in  movement,  would  soon  change  the  mysterious  city  of 
the  Orient,  replete  with  the  souvenirs  of  Constantine  and 
Mohammed,  into  a  great  commercial  mart.  The  past 
would  be  sacrificed  for  the  future,  but  the  sacrifice  would 
be  justifiable.  Useless  Romance  would  drop  her  fascin- 
ating garment,  and  stand  arrayed  as  the  goddess  of 
Practical  Progress. 

The  question  then  is,  who  will  begin  the  work? 

The  Turks  will  certainly  not;  indeed,  their  opposition 
to  it  will  be  so  strong  that  it  cannot  well  be  undertaken 
until  they  see  that  their  empire  is  broken,  and  that  their 
natural  refuge  is  over  the  water  into  Asia,  where  they 
belong. 

The  mover  of  all  this  will  be  a  nation  which  has  the  most 
to  gain  from  the  results,  —  Russia,  and  fortunately  a 
nation  fired  with  the  ambitions  of  progress,  and  w-ith 
sufficient  power  to  be  able  to  carry  them  out.  The  intel- 
ligent men  of  Russia  know  that  it  is  needful  to  the  dignity 
of  the  nation,  as  a  sentiment,  to  its  safety  militarily,  and 
to  its  commercial  prosperity,  to  have  all  the  water  rights 
and  privileges  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  in  the  straits  which 
connect  it  with  those  waters  which  are  acknowledged  to 
be  the  common  property  of  mankind.  Until  this  is 
brought  about  their  machinery  is  clogged,  and  for  this  the 
possession  of  Constantinople  is  so  important  as  almost  to 
be  a  necessity. 

The  Russians  are  already  at  the  work,  and  the  faster  it 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  215 

advances  the  better.  Slowly  and  steadily  since  the  peace 
was  signed  at  the  end  of  the  Crimean  War,  the  government 
at  St.  Petersburg,  deeply  humbled  then,  is  preparing  for 
the  struggle  which  will  restore  her  lost  rights,  and  give  her 
many  additional  ones.  Day  by  day,  she  is  spreading  out 
her  net-work  of  railroads,  steamboats,  telegraphs,  and 
post-roads;  imperceptibly  she  is  increasing  her  territory, 
and  this  on  principles  so  judiciously  arranged  for  the 
conquered,  that  each  fresh  Asiatic  horde  absorbed,  soon 
becomes  as  proud  of  the  grandeur  of  Russia  as  if  it  had 
always  been  a  part  of  the  empire.  Vessels  for  the  navy 
and  commerce  are  being  built  on  her  northern  and  southern 
seas,  and  her  large  inland  rivers;  her  grain-trade  is  rapidly 
increasing,  and  her  rich  mines  and  other  resources  are 
being  developed.  Besides  all  this,  she  has  a  strong  point 
of  safety  in  the  intense  feeling  of  nationality,  daily  swell- 
ing, which  pervades  all  the  Muscovites.  In  sentiment 
the  army  is  a  unit,  and  the  entire  population  of  the  vast 
empire  shout  wildly  on  every  occasion  for  the  health  and 
prosperity  of  the  Tsar. 

There  may  be  something  barbaric  in  all  this,  but  it  is  the 
stuff  out  of  which  national  greatness  can  be  made,  and  it 
may  cause  anxiety  to  those  countries  where  such  a  feeling 
does  not  exist. 

The  Country  of  the  Pharaohs. 

The  nation  most  interested  after  Russia,  in  the  division 
of  Turkey,  perhaps  as  much  or  even  more  interested, 
because  her  own  independence  is  the  prize  she  can  win, 
is  Egypt,  that  historic  land,  which,  once  the  mistress  of 
the  world,  but  today  a  vassal,  has  in  the  future  as  fine  a 
destiny  as  could  be  desired.  The  canal  lately  opened 
through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  has  done  more  for  Egypt 
than  fifty  ordinary  years  might  have  accomplished. 

It  has  turned  the  thoughts  of  civilized  Europe  for  more 
than  ten  years  upon  that  country ;  it  has  kept  their  atten- 
tion interested,  and  the  result  has  been  more  than  satis- 
factory. 

Europe  has  not,  in  modem  daj'^s,  expected  to  find  much 
good  in  the  cotmtry  of  the  Pharaohs,  but  it  has  found  that 
although  matters  there  are  not  what  the  sanguine  might 
wish,  they  are  still  unquestionably  in  every  point  where 
comparison  is  possible,  very  far  in  advance  of  Turkey. 


216  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

The  infusion  of  Western  ideas  into  the  inhabitants  of  a 
land  who  have  been  brought  up  for  centuries  to  despise 
them,  is  no  easy  task,  but  this  the  Vice  Roi  of  Egypt  has 
been  attempting,  and  with  fair  success.  He  appreciates 
the  age  in  which  he  Hves  as  any  one  who  has  visited  Cairo 
can  plainly  see,  and  he  feels  his  superiority  over  the  Sultan 
so  strongly,  that  he  is  merely  waiting  for  the  time  to  be 
ripe,  to  openly  disobey  the  orders  from  Constantinople, 
and  assert  his  independence.  Many  thought,  and  with 
reason,  that  at  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  the  time  for 
this  action  had  come,  but  nothing  was  then  done,  perhaps 
because  the  armed  force  of  the  Khedive  was  insufficient 
for  the  attempt,  or  that  having  accomplished  a  great 
commercial  success,  he  hesitated  risking  a  military  failure, 
or,  more  probably  still,  because  the  diplomatic  complica- 
tions were  such  that  he  could  not  make  an  advantageous 
alliance. 

For  what  is  to  be  done  Egypt  should  go  hand-in-hand 
with  Russia,  but  at  the  present  time  this  is  a  difficult 
combination  to  form. 

In  constructing  the  Suez  Canal,  France  has  done  every- 
thing for  Egypt,  and  the  presence  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 
at  the  opening  ceremonies  was  the  natural  culmination  of 
the  work. 

An  alliance  between  France  and  Egypt,  strong  enough 
to  give  France  a  foothold  in  the  East,  and  thereby  to 
checkmate  the  power  of  England,  but  not  binding  her  to 
make  a  rupture  with  the  rulers  at  Constantinople  on  the 
question  of  Egyptian  independence,  would  be  a  fine  thing 
for  Napoleon,  but  would  do  Ismail  little  good.  A  rational 
alliance  between  Russia  and  Egypt,  each  country  working 
for  itself  and  the  other,  would  be  desirable  enough,  but  for 
this  it  would  be  necessary  to  give  France  the  cold  shoulder, 
and  in  return  receive  her  resentment. 

Russia,  France,  and  Egypt,  cannot  now  combine 
together.  The  results  of  the  Crimean  war  are  not  for- 
gotten at  St.  Petersburg,  and,  besides  this,  the  existing 
relations  between  Russia  and  Prussia  on  other  European 
questions  are  such  that  the  former  cannot  yet  offer  France 
a  friendly  hand. 

The  ambition  of  Napoleon  is  boundless,  but  he  knows 
that  the  prestige  he  would  acquire  in  working  out  the 
independence  of  Egypt,  would  be  overbalanced  by  what 
would  fall  to  the  share  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia. 

England,  too,  could  not  keep  out  of  the  dispute,  and 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  217 

although  lately  she  has  been  very  silent  on  the  Eastern 
question,  at  the  moment  of  action,  regardless  of  what  she 
has  done  in  the  past,  and  of  her  half-promises  for  the 
future,  she  would  bring  great  force  to  bear,  and  in  such 
a  way  as  to  derive  advantage  for  herself  alone. 

The  Austro-Hungarian  Empire  and  Greece  have  both 
something  to  gain  from  the  dismemberment  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  but,  in  their  present  condition,  they  must 
move  in  the  wake  of  others,  they  cannot  lead  the  opera- 
tions. A  masterly  brain  and  arm  might  unite  the  differ- 
ent Slavonic  elements  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  part 
of  which  now  belong  to  Turkey,  and  amalgamate  them 
into  the  Austrian  Empire,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  this  would 
be  a  desirable  move,  for,  while  it  would  give  strength  in 
territory  and  population  to  Austria,  it  would  tend  to 
weaken  the  German  element  of  the  country,  and  this 
would  be  fatal  if  she  wishes  to  be  regarded  as  the  great 
South-German  nation. 

The  title  of  Kaiser  of  Germans,  always  has  and  could 
still  give  prestige,  but  the  same  title  held  by  one  whose 
empire  was  in  reality  composed  of  Slavs,  would  not,  but 
on  the  contrary  aid  the  government  of  Prussia  in  its  plans 
of  German  unity,  and  unity  on  a  more  democratic  basis. 
Austria's  best  course,  therefore,  would  be  to  take  no 
active  part,  but  to  await  the  results  and  turn  them  as 
best  she  could  to  her  advantage. 

The  Greeks  and  Turks  have  never  loved  each  other, 
and  while  Greece  is  too  weak  for  definite  action  at  first, 
she  could  later  lend  a  helping  hand  in  the  movements 
which  would  result  in  restoring  to  her  the  provinces  of 
Thessaly  and  Epirus,  which  though  under  the  dominion 
of  Turkey  are  Greek  in  everything  but  the  name.  Greece 
thus  regenerated,  might  again  become  quite  an  important 
country,  and  with  the  commerce  which  the  Suez  Canal 
opens  to  her  with  the  Indies,  take  her  place  as  a  growing 
maritime  nation. 

There  are  no  other  important  moves  now  apparent  in 
the  horizon  of  European  politics.  As  mentioned  above, 
the  great  powers  are  too  much  interested  in  domestic 
affairs  to  be  able  to  give  much  thought  to  what  their 
neighbors  are  doing. 

It  has  been  expected  by  many  that  the  continued  growl- 
ing heard  both  from  France  and  Prussia,  would  sooner 
or  later  end  in  open  rupture  and  war,  (The  Franco-Prus- 
sian war  broke  out  three  months  later,  July  19,   1870.) 


218  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

but  one  who  watches  the  course  of  events  closely  can  see 
that  while  they  both  say  they  are  ready,  neither  of  them 
desires  to  break  the  peace.  Neither  will  be  the  first  to 
sound  the  alarm,  for  they  both  know  they  have  almost 
nothing  to  gain  from  the  resvdt,  for,  should  the  war  come, 
it  would  accomplish  little  but  the  destruction  of  the  lives 
of  many  thousand  soldiers.  Whichever  side  was  victorious, 
the  boundary  line  between  the  two  nations  would  be  but 
slightly  changed.  The  existing  line  is  the  natural  one, 
for  it  is  the  line  of  language  and  race,  and,  although  war 
could  move  it  on  one  side  or  the  other,  for  a  time,  it 
would  soon  fall  back  again  to  the  plane  from  which  it 
started.  The  strength  of  the  two  nations  is  so  nearly 
equal  that  neither  can  absorb  portions  of  the  other. 
The  Rhine  is  a  German  river,  and  neither  diplomacy  nor 
war  can  make  it  French. 

The  Non-intervention  of  the  United  States. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  what  position  should  the  Gov- 
ernment, or  rather  the  people  of  the  United  States,  take 
in  relation  to  the  march  of  events  in  Europe?  Are  we 
to  hold  forever  to  our  established  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention, when  we  conscientiously  believe  that  judicious 
intervention  would  often  advance  the  cause  of  progress? 

Better  at  least  keep  the  right  of  speaking  and  acting 
as  we  please,  but  use  it  sparingly,  and  never  hesitate  to 
give  sympathy  and  moral  aid, — sometimes  more  helpful 
than  actual  assistance, — to  the  parties  in  any  struggle 
which  we  believe  to  have  justice  on  their  side. 

But  when  we  look  into  the  future,  and  a  no  verv  distant 
future  at  that,  and  consider  that  at  the  end  of  this  cen- 
tury we  shall  be  a  nation  of  one  hundred  millions,  thinking 
persons  can  easily  see  that  the  preponderance  of  strength 
in  our  favor  will  be  so  overwhelming,  that  non-interven- 
tion will  be  a  practical  impossibility.  The  weak  of  the 
earth  will  come  to  us  for  protection,  and  we  shall  not 
wish  to  throw  them  off. 

What  a  country  it  will  be  in  1900! 

One  hundred  million  people,  all  with  a  strong  sense  of 
liberty,  but  not  of  license;  all  educated,  or  desirous  and 
able  to  become  so;  all  ambitious,  because  the  highest 
prizes  are  within  their  reach ;  nearly  all  speaking  one  lan- 
guage: with  private  fortunes  greater  than  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  and  with  the  natural  resources  of  the  country 
then  in  their  flower. 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  219 

One  cannot  dwell  upon  this  prospect  without  swelling 
with  pride,  and  at  the  same  time  almost  trembling  at  its 
very  grandeur. 

The  mighty  Republic  of  the  United  States,  which  sprang 
into  existence  less  than  a  century  ago,  will  be  the  acknowl- 
edged law-giver  and   arbiter  of  the  entire   world. 

Perhaps  at  no  time  has  the  temptation  for  us  to  mix 
in  the  affairs  of  Europe  been  so  strong  as  today,  because, 
selfishly  speaking,  we  have  everything  to  gain  and  nothing 
to  lose.  (It  must  be  remembered  that  every  word  of  this 
article  was  written  in  1870.)  A  mere  spark  which  could 
any  moment  be  struck  at  Washington  would  in  three 
months'  time  set  Europe  in  flames. 

An  excuse  like  the  Cuban  difficulty  (The  independence 
of  Cuba,  achieved  at  the  close  of  the  century  by  the  assist- 
ance of  the  United  States  in  its  war  with  Spain) ,  the  long 
pending  question  of  the  Alabama  Claims,  (Claims  of  the 
United  States  upon  Great  Britain  for  damages  by  the 
Alabama  and  other  Confederate  cruisers,  settled  in  1872, 
at  Geneva,  by  a  court  of  arbitration.)  the  relations  between 
the  Sultan  and  the  Khedive,  or  the  foolishness  now  between 
France  and  the  United  States  about  the  postal  treaty  or 
the  Atlantic  cable.  Any  of  these  would  be  sufficient  to 
do  the  work,  and  what  would  be  the  result?  (The  postal 
union  was  formed  by  a  congress  of  delegates  representing 
the  principal  governments  of  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  assembled  at  Berne,  Switzerland,  in  September, 
1874.  A  treaty  was  concluded  establishing  a  uniform 
rate  of  postage  for  letters  of  5  cents  per  half  ounce.) 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  able-bodied  men,  with 
no  taste  for  war,  and  especially  war  for  the  gratification 
of  crowned  heads,  would  seize  every  opportunity  of 
leaving  their  native  lands  and  hastening  to  America. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  them. 

Millions  and  millions  of  treasure  seeking  safe  invest- 
ment, would  find  its  way  to  the  United  States,  and  all 
that  is  wanted  to  develop  the  country,  is  hands  to  work 
the  natural  resources  and  money  to  pay  for  it. 

America  would  become  what  England  has  been  for 
many  years,  the  strong  box  of  the  world.  England  can 
be  so  no  more. 

Telegraph  communication  and  steam  have  put  her  so 
near  the  continent  of  Europe,  that  she  can  no  longer  be 
regarded  as  a  sure  land  of  refuge  for  men  or  money. 
Nay,  it  is  doubtful  if  she  could  actually  keep  out  of  the 


220  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY 

conflict.  The  safe  must  be  separated  from  the  combat- 
ants by  a  broader  piece  of  water  than  the  Straits  of  Dover. 
Three  thousand  miles  are  not  too  much  for  perfect  secur- 
ity. The  action  of  the  United  States  could  bring  on  any 
war  it  wished,  but  the  country  itself  would  have  nothing 
to  fear.  Its  strength  is  so  great  that  it  could  meet  fairly 
in  the  field  any  possible  combination  of  the  nations  of 
Europe.  The  feeling  of  animosity  between  the  northern 
and  southern  states,  which  has  existed  during  the  civil 
war,  but  which  is  happily  now  almost  over,  would  end 
in  fraternal  enthusiasm  if  the  country  should  engage  in 
a  popular  war  against  any  other  nation.  But  the  car- 
nage once  begun  in  Europe  could  not  be  carried  over  the 
Atlantic,  as  there  would  be  enough  to  keep  it  there.  The 
United  States  would  be  in  any  case  the  attacked  and  not 
the  attacking  party,  and  modem  warfare  has  arrived  at 
the  point  that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  party  which 
attacks  a  distant  land  is  almost  sure  to  be  worsted. 

What  would  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  United  States  would 
be  the  business  of  the  world.  The  carrying  trade  of  the 
nations  would  be  done  by  her,  and  the  problem  of  the 
revival  of  her  shipping  be  by  the  action  of  others  solved. 
All  the  merchant  vessels  which  plough  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  oceans,  would  claim  the  protection  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  and  this  means  limitless  sums  of  money 
poured  into  her  treasury,  wealth  to  the  country,  and 
wealth  to  private  individuals.  The  prestige  of  her  flag 
would  be  such  as  none  ever  had  before. 

The  Path  of  Peace. 

Such  is  the  prospect  which  opens  before  the  vision  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  today.  Deeply  conscious  of 
our  great  power,  let  us  be  equally  conscious  of  our  respon- 
sibility in  best  employing  that  power  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind.  Let  us  remember  that  our  path  is  the  path  of 
peace,  and  not  that  of  war,  let  us  endeavor  not  to  be  turned 
from  it  by  the  constant  temptations  of  false  glory,  for,  if 
we  are,  we  shall  ourselves  suffer  for  it  later,  and  cause 
others  to  suffer. 

It  is  for  lis  to  show  to  Europe,  not  what  advantages  can 
be  derived  from  war  and  diplomacy,  which  are  the  weapons 
of  the  past,  but  what  greater  advantages  can  bs  derived 
from  the  weapons  of  the  present  and  the  future,  —  the 
weapons  of  our  own  peculiar  fabrication,  —  such  as  the 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  221 

nobility  of  labor  and  universal  education  and  freedom. 
Only  by  acting  thus  shall  we  be  able  to  prove  to  the  nations 
who  are  even  now  'hanging  breathless  on  our  fate,'  that 
we  truly  carry  with  us  a  grander  civilization  than  has  ever 
yet  been  seen.  " 


From  a  Letter  to  My  Sister  at 
Manchester. 

"Club  House,  Newport,  August  7,  1870:  I  was  in 
Boston  yesterday,  and  had  just  about  ten  minutes 
at  39  Beacon  street,  where  I  found  your  nice  letter. 
I  am  very  comfortably  established  here,  in  a  little 
apartment  with  my  friend  Bob.  Winthrop  of  New 
York,  and  here  I  mean  to  have  my  headquarters, 
running  off  occasionally  to  New  York  or  Boston 
and  I  hope  before  long  to  turn  up  at  'Sharks- 
mouth.'  I  have  been  really  very  much  occupied 
the  last  month,  what  with  my  own  affairs,  la  haute 
finance  at  Washington  and  New  York,  with  the 
thermometer  at  90°,  and  with  occasional  visits  to 
my  friends,  and  have  been  very  happy  with  all  the 
work.  I  have  my  old  horse  'Trumps'  from  South 
Carolina,  and  he  is  in  as  fine  a  condition  as  when  I 
left  him,  more  than  two  years  ago.  He  reposes  in 
solitary  dignity  in  the  stable. 

Poor  Europe  in  1870,  is  terribly  changed! 

I  am  going  to  print  my  little  article  in  a  pam- 
phlet by  itself,  with  an  introduction  suited  to  the 
times,  and  will  send  you  a  copy  when  it  appears. 
I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  to  alter  it  to  suit  the 
ever  changing  news  from  Europe  would  be  impos- 
sible, and  would  really  spoil  it,  and  so  I  will  let  it 
remain  as  it  is  as  one  of  my  first  literary  attempts. 

I  have  been  to  Long  Branch,  and  it  is  the  most 
extraordinary  American  political  rendezvous  I  ever 
saw. 


222  RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND   SOCIETY 

The  war  in  Europe  sickens  me,  so  many  thousand 
poor  fellows  to  be  murdered  and  maimed  for 
wicked  personal  ambition.  The  whole  business  of 
the  world  is  thrown  into  our  hands, — I  mean  the 
United  States  of  America, — if  we  only  take  it.' ' 

GOUBAREFF    THE    RUSSIAN. 

Demetrius  Goubareff  was  a  very  intelligent 
Russian,  to  whom  I  was  first  introduced  in  1871  or 
1872.  As  a  young  man  he  had  liberated  his  serfs 
before  the  emancipation  action  of  Alexander  II. 
and  had  been  a  progressive  man  in  every  way.  He 
wrote  a  book  entitled  "Philosophie — Religion." 
He  had,  I  believe,  taken  part  in  the  Crimean  war, 
and  then  again  in  1879,  entered  the  service  of  his 
country  at  the  time  of  the  later  attempt  to  obtain 
possession  of  Constantinople,  which  I  have  been 
informed  was  balked  only  by  the  interposition  of 
Bismarck.  The  matter  I  thought  ought  to  have 
been  settled  then  and  there. 

Mr.  Goubareff  lived  much  at  Nice  and  Paris,  and 
often  visited  London.  He  kept  up  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  many  interesting  persons. 

He  passed  Sunday  with  me  at  Vevey,  Switzer- 
land, in  March,  1876,  and  we  had  an  excellent 
chance  to  talk  there  quietly  and  at  our  leisure.  I 
found  that  he  was  much  interested  in  the  "Asso- 
ciation for  the  Codification  and  Reform  of  the 
Law  of  Nations,"  of  which,  on  my  proposing  him, 
he  became  a  member.  I  was  very  glad  of  this  be- 
cause he  proposed  to  make  a  good  deal  of  occupa- 
tion for  himself  out  of  it,  getting  acquainted,  and 
opening  correspondence  with  many  of  the  distin- 
guished persons  who  w^ere  on  the  list  of  its  members, 
and  would  prove  a  very  valuable  addition  to  the 
organization, 


RUSSIAN  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  223 

The  following  month  in  Paris  Mr.  Goubareff 
introduced  me  to  the  Golovine  family,  and  we 
dined  with  them  and  strolled  together  in  the  beau- 
tiful gardens  of  St.  Germain, 

Russia  and  the  United  States. 
Written  in  Boston  in   1873. 

"A  good  deal  has  been  said  and  written  the  last  ten 
years,  about  the  strong  friendship  existing  between  Russia 
and  the  United  States,  the  coquetting,  as  it  has  been  called, 
of  these  two  nations  vath  each  other. 

That  such  an  entente  cordiale  has  existed  is  beyond  all 
dispute,  but  the  causes  of  it  open  a  wide  field  for  discussion. 

The  nations  of  Europe  who  have  watched  its  progress 
with  some  evident  alarm  for  themselves,  have  come  for- 
ward with  many  unasked-for  explanations,  to  clearly 
prove  that  such  a  thing  is  out  of  all  reason,  that  it  should 
not  be,  that  it  is  aU  nonsense,  thereby  admitting  all  the 
more  plainly  the  ugly  fact.  Particularly  kind  and  disin- 
terested have  they  been  in  their  advice  to  the  j'outhful 
United  States,  warning  her  to  be  careful,  lest  she  be  out- 
\\att'..'d  by  the  shrewd  diplomacy  of  the  Muscovite  Cabinet, 
telling  her  that  it  was  all  a  smart  trick  on  the  part  of  the 
Russian  government,  from  which  they  only  wanted  to 
carry  out  their  own  ambitious  ends,  and  this  done,  they 
would  be  ready  at  any  moment  to  give  the  innocent  and 
confiding  Americans  the  slip. 

It  is  pleasant,  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  feel 
what  good  friends  we  have  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, — ■  real  friends,  too,  —  who  are  ready  to  come  forward, 
now  that  we  are  out  of  the  woods,  to  save  us  from  the 
terrible  fate   of  being  killed  by  too  much   kindness. 

Like  the  almost  historic  personage  who  was  talked  to 
daath,  perhaps  there  is  danger  in  store  for  the  American 
Republic  of  Iseing  admsed  to  death  by  her  older  brothers 
and  sisters. 

It  does  not  take  ?n  over-intelligent  person  to  see  that 
between  a  military  autocracy,  under  the  sway  of  an  almost 
absolute  ruler,  and  a  government  of  the  people,  intrusting 
the  management  of  its  aflfairs  temporarily  to  its  chosen 
representatives,  there  cannot  be,  theoretically,  certainly, 
much  genuine  and  heartfelt  sympathy.     This  is  super- 


224  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

ficially  the  view  which  any  one  would  take.  But  deeper 
reflection  on  the  traits,  or,  better  still,  living  among  the 
people  of  whom  such  a  comparison  is  made,  will  show  that 
this  curious  sympathy  is  not  by  any  means  a  matter  of 
government  alone,  — -  important  as  that  is  to  aid  it,  —  but 
lies  hidden  in  the  life  of  the  people  themselves,  only  to  be 
brought  out  by  a  curious  combination  of  circumstances. 

The  Double  Event  of  Emancipation. 

At  times  the  spark  will  be  struck,  and  blaze  forth  into  a 
great  conflagration.  Such  a  time  was  the  late  civil  war 
in  North  America,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  in  the  Southern  states,  when,  to  corre- 
spond with  it,  at  about  the  same  epoch,  but  from  entirely 
different  causes,  came  the  liberation  of  the  serfs  all  through 
Russia. 

Alexander  II.  and  Abraham  Lincoln  then  found  a  bond 
of  fellowship  existing  between  them,  which  nothing  could 
break,  and  the  masses  in  Russia  and  in  the  United  States, 
were  only  too  ready  to  take  up  the  double  event  and  mag- 
nify it  in  their  feeling  to  an  unlimited  extent.  Then 
many  other  points  of  similarity  were  discovered ;  the  great 
extent  of  territory  of  both  nations,  giving  each  a  future  in 
the  development  of  the  resources  placed  there  by  nature, 
whether  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  or  under  it,  which 
restricted  limits  had  denied  to  the  other  nations  of  the 
continent.  This  same  vastness  of  land,  educating  many 
to  be  merchants,  and  farmers,  and  miners,  and  railroad 
owners  on  a  grand  scale,  caused  a  corresponding  freedom 
of  thought  and  independence  of  action, —  in  other  words 
democratized  the  people  who  had  come  under  its  influence, 
—  in  a  way  which  cannot  well  be  appreciated  by  those 
whose  life  is  passed  in  crowded  cities  alone,  where  the 
prestige  of  courts  and  the  presence  of  cliques  make  indi- 
viduality much  less  marked. 

The  two  nations,  the  republic  and  the  empire,  owned  a 
wide  frontage  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  which  they  came  in 
imagination  to  regard  as  a  huge  lake,  and  this  their  com- 
mon property.  Other  events,  too,  at  this  time  were  used 
with  great  effect ;  such  as  the  arrival  of  the  Russian  squad- 
ron in  America  (The  Russian  fleet  in  New  York,  Boston, 
and  San  Francisco  in  1863.),  the  visit  of  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  Fox  in  1866,  and  that  of  Admiral  Far- 
ragut    in    1867,    (Admiral    Farragut    was   in    Russia    the 


RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY  225 

greater  part  of  August  in  that  year,  and  it  was  said  the 
friendship  and  courtesy  of  both  p:ovemment  and  people 
were  especially  marked")  the  purchase  of  Alaska  (In  1867, 
organized  julv  27,  186S.)  and  the  return  call  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Alexis  to  the  United  States.  (The  third  son  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander  IJ.  of  Russia  visited  this  country  in 
December  1871,  and  at  a  banquet  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
welcomed  him  w  ith  the  following  words : — 

'  Bleak  are  our  shores  with  the  blasts  of  December, 

Fettered  and  chill  is  the  rivulet 's  flow, 
But  throbbing  and  warm  are  the  hearts  that  remember 

Who  was  our  friend  when  the  world  was  our  foe. ' 

There  was  a  gift  to  the  poor  of  New  York  when  the 
Russian  squadron  took  leave  of  New  York  in  1863,  a  volun- 
tary subscription  of  S4,760  from  the  officers,  and  during 
the  famine  in  Russia  in  1891,  our  government  sent  over 
five  large  steamers  loaded  with  grain  collected  from 
almost  every  state  in  the  Union.) 

But,  supposing  there  were  no  characteristics  in  common, 
it  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  in  America  that,  during  the 
long  years  of  the  terrible  war,  while  many  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  were  clinging  to  the  policy  of  keeping  an  uncom- 
promising but  none  the  less  watchful  armed  neutrality, 
rulers  and  aristocracies  in  their  hearts  against  the  cause 
of  the  North,  while  the  lower  classes  everywhere  went  with 
it,  Russia,  of  all  the  great  nations,  alone  came  forward, 
and  gave  openly  its  sympathy  to  the  side  which  represented 
a  more  advanced  civilization,  and  which  as  such,  in  spite 
of  its  many  disheartening  defeats,  was  bound  to  triumph 
in  the  end.  A  person  who  is  hard  pressed  in  life,  when  a 
friend  comes  up  to  give  him  encouragement,  does  not  stop 
to  reflect  why  it  is  given,  and  try  to  put  a  selfish  construc- 
tion on  the  offer,  he  accepts  it  on  the  spot,  and  is  not  apt 
to  forget  the  donor  in  a  hurry.  So  Americans  are  not  to  be 
easily  persuaded  that  Russia 's  assistance  to  them  at  that 
critical  period  in  their  country  's  history,  was  a  mere  dip- 
lomatic sham  and  meaningless  parade.  They  are  willing 
to  be  ignorant  still,  if  this  is  so,  and  need  more  powerful 
arguments  to  disprove  them  than  have  yet  been  raised  by 
their  officious  counsellors." 

The   Russo-American  Fever. 

In  the  year  of  my  first  journey  to  Russia,  1866, 
the  Russo-American  fever  was  at  its  height,  and 


226  RUSSIAN   LIFE   AND   SOCIETY 

it  was  a  very  pleasant  thing  for  those  who  caught 
it  when  traveUing  in  the  other  country.  They 
were  feted  and  hugged,  and  wined,  and  tossed, 
according  to  the  customs  of  the  people,  and  their 
nationality  alone  was  a  sufficient  passport  to  pass 
them  along  the  lines  of  sight-seeing  and  pleasure, 
passing  unchallenged, — nay,  rather  invited  in. 
The  entire  nation  was  in  the  attitude  of  "present 
arms"  to  him  from  the  other  country  who  desired 
to  pass  through  on  a  tour  of  inspection. 


"And  the  great  ships  sail  outward  and  return, 
Bending  and  bowing  o'er  the  billowy  swells, 
And  ever  ioyful,  as  they  see  it  bum, 

They  wave  their  silent  welcomes  and  farewells. " 
—  Henry  W.  Longfellow.   The  Lighthouse. 


FINIS. 


ruRl  NAM).    OPHXIXG  OK  THE  SL'KZ  CANAL. 


INDEX 

TO 

PERSONS,  PLACES.  AND  SUBJECTS 


Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  St.  Peters- 
burg, 151. 

Academy  of  Miisic,  Brooklyn,  N 
Y.,  90. 

Academy  of  Music,  Newport,  R. 
I.,  32. 

Admiralty,  St.  Petersburg,  151. 

After  Emancipation,  58,  200. 

Agricultural  Exhibition,  174. 

Alabama  Claims,  219. 

Alaska,  172,  186,  225. 

Albania,  108. 

Alexander  I.,  186,  192. 

Alexander  II.,  77,  81,  92,  94-96, 
106,  1.34.  136-138,  161,  162, 
164,  173-175.  184,  194-197, 
200,  211,  216,  222,  224,  225. 

Alexander  II.,  Death  of,  203-205. 

Alexander  II..  Monument,  205. 

Alexandria,  179. 

.'Uice,  yacht,  17-19,  23.  25,  27,  117. 

Allston,  Washington,  125-132. 

Andrews,  Christopher  Columbus, 
169,  170. 

Appleton,  D.  &  Co.,  146,  153. 

Appleton,  Thomas  Gold,  17-20,  23, 
25,  42,  117,  123,  126,  129-132, 
148. 

Appomattox  Court  House,  Va., 
62,  64. 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  21,  22,  156, 
1.58. 

Artillery  Brigade,  157. 

Artists'  Club,  St.  Petersburg,  99. 

Ashuelot,  man-of-war,  136. 

Asni^rcs,  24. 

Astor,  W.  W.,  146. 

Augusta,  man-of-war,  136. 

Avenue  de  1 '  Opera,  Paris,  35. 

Ball.  Thomas,  66. 

Baltic  Sea,  24,  73,  186. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  44,  55,  99. 

Banks.  Nathaniel  P.,  160,  168-174, 
176,  179,  181,  183,207,213. 

Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  145. 

Bartlett,  Joseph  J.,  30. 


Battle  of  Antietam,  52. 
Beaumont,  Sir  George,  130,  131. 
Behring  Straits,  103. 
Behring,  Vitus,  discoverer,  103. 
Bellevue  Avenue,  Newport,  R.  I., 

29. 
Belmont,  August,  33,  145-147. 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  27,  28. 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  Jr.,  27-29 

34,  36,  159. 
Berdan,  Hiram,  173,  176. 
Berlin,  24,  26.  39,  68-74,  167. 
Besborodko,     Kouchelefl,     Count, 

93,  141. 
Bieknell,  Albion  H..  64. 
Bismarck-Schonhausen,  Otto  Ed- 
ward   Leopold,  Prince     von. 

Chancellor    of     the     Gennar 

Empire,  222. 
Black  Sea,  214. 
Bois  de  Boulogne,  20,  23,  38-40, 

111,  162,  165. 
Boit,  Edward  D.,  203. 
Boston,  9,   19,  66,  103,  116,  119. 

127,  128,  221,224. 
Boston  Athenffium,  12S. 
Boston  Board  of  Trade,  177. 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  129. 
Boston  Public  Library,  141. 
Boulevard  des  Italiens,  Paris,  36. 
Bowditch,  Henry  P.,  1.58. 
Bowles  Brothers  &  Co.,  Bankers, 

168. 
Bowles,  Charies,  34,  168,  177. 
Bowles,  Drevet  &  Cie,  Paris,  17. 
Bowles,  Robert,  127. 
Boyer,  Alexandre,  183. 
Brest,  9,  11,  14,  16,24. 
Brevoort  House,  New  York,  90. 
Brevuort  Place.  New  York,  89. 
Bric-a-Brac  Club,  Boston,  148. 
Brighton  Road,  Brighton  District. 

Boston,  87,  123,  1.35. 
Brindisi.  179. 

Brown,  Edward  Ingersol.  132. 
Brown,  John  Murray,  181. 


228 


INDEX 


Brussels,  24,  26,  39,  68. 
Builock,  AJexancler  H.,  167. 
Burgess,  Frank,  9,  16,  23,  39,  84, 

122,  144. 
Burlingame,  Anson,  165-169,  180. 
Burlington  Arcade,  London,  85. 
Cafe  Napolitaine,  Paris.  26,  27. 
Cairo,  Egypt,  179,  216. 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  159. 
Cameron,  Simon,  50. 
Camp  Douglas,  21. 
Carnatz  Connection,  106. 
Carolina  FUly.  30. 
Caspian  Sea,  108. 
Catherine  II.,  193. 
Caucasus,  186. 

Centennial    Exposition,    Philadel- 
phia, 129. 
Cercle  des  Capucines,  38. 
Cercle  Franco- Americain,  37,  38. 
Champ   de   Mars,   St.   Petersburg, 

173. 
Chandler,  Zachariah,  168. 
Charing  Cross  Hotel,  London,  20. 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  55,  64. 
Chicago,  10. 

Chicago  Exposition,  66,  129. 
China,  steamship,   18. 
Chinese  Embassy,  167-169. 
Christmas    Day,   81,   92,   98,    103, 

113,  114,  122,  132,  133. 
Church  of  Saint  Sophia,  140. 
Church  of  Sault  Isaac.  86,  87. 
Circassia,  83,  85,  92,  108,  142,  145, 

147,  204. 
Clark,  Arthur  H.,  17,  18. 
Clav,  Cassius  M.,  82,  94-96,  98,  137. 
Clyde  Park,  30. 
Coaching  Club,  28. 
Coffey,  Titian  J.,  172,  173,  177. 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  65. 
Cologne,  69. 

Commune,  France,  36,  37. 
Commune,  or  Mir,  Russia,  201-203. 
Compi^gne,  20. 
Comte,  Auguste,  181. 
Constantinople,  39,   76,   102,   169, 

179,  180,  213-216,  222. 
Copenhacien,  168,  171. 
Corbin,  Austin,  29. 
Costume  Ball,  144-147. 
Cotton  Exposition,   New  Orleans, 

21. 
Country    Club,    Brookline,    Mass., 

30,  32,  33. 
Cowdin,  Elliot  C,  166. 
Cowes,  18,  19. 
Cowes  Roads,  18. 
Cracow,  154,  1.5.5. 
Crane,  Edward  A.,  182. 


Crimea,  23,  193,  194. 

Crimean  War,  193,  194,  197,  215. 

216,  222. 
Cronstadt,  97,  136. 
Crowninshield,  B.  W.,  156. 
Cuba,  26,  172. 
Curtin,  Andrew  G.,  168,  172,  173, 

177,  180. 
Ciu-tin,    Jeremiah,    81,    103,    118. 

134,  181. 
Cvirtis,  T.  B.,  25,  39. 
Danube  River,  181,  217. 
Dauntless,  yacht,  29. 
Davis,  Tom  Kemper,  126. 
De  Gogorza,  Anthoine,  183. 
De    Lesseps,     Ferdinand,    Count, 

164,  165,  179.  182,  183. 
Delmonico's,  New  York,  144. 
De  Long,  George  W.,  159. 
Demidoff  Mines,  87. 
De    Richelieu,    Armand    Emanuel 

duPlessis,  Duke,  178. 
De  Trobriand,  Philippe  Regis,  20, 

21,  24,  91. 
Dieppe,  24. 

District  of  Columbia,  45,  49. 
Dix,  John  A.,  165-167. 
Dneiper  River,  185. 
D'Osuna  et  de  I'Ynfantado,  Duke. 

Spanish  Ambassador,  82,  93, 

98. 
Dresden,  25,  106,  155. 
Dre.xel,  A.  J.,  34,  35,  168. 
Drexel,  Harjes  &  Co.,  34,  168. 
Dumaresq,  Armand,  37. 
Dvina  River,  185. 
Easton's  Beach,   Newport,  R.   I., 

31. 
Elsinore,  170,  184. 
Emancipation,    Compensated,   48- 

50,  60,  196,  197,  199. 
Emancipation,   Double   Event  of, 

224. 
Emancipation,      Gradual.     48-50, 

196,  197. 
Emancipation     Law     of     Russia, 

Manifesto,  198,  199,  200. 
Emancipation,     Proclamation     in 

the  United  States,  52-54. 
Emancipation,  Result  of  War,  50, 

193. 
Emperor  of  Austria,  Franz  Joseph 

I.,  182. 
English  Channel,  18,  117. 
English  Club,  St.  Petersburg,  134. 
Erlanger,  Emile,  183. 
Erlanger,  Louis,  Count  Excelmans, 

183. 
Europe  and  America  in  1870,  207, 

209-222. 


INDEX 


229 


Evans,  Thomas  W..  35,  180,  182. 

183. 
Executive      Mansion      or      White 

House,  48,  51,  62. 
Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  41. 
Farragut,  David  Glasgow,Admiral, 

224 
Fearing,' H.  S.,  145. 
Fetridge,  William  Pembroke,  34, 

36,  38. 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  29. 
Fifth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac, 

Union  Forces,  War  of  1861- 

'65,  156,  157,  158. 
Fifth  Mass.   Battery-,  Light  Artil- 
lery, 63,  116,  157. 
Fifteenth  Amendment,  57,  58,  60. 
Fifty-fifth  N.  Y.  Regt.  Inf.,  21. 
Finland,  186. 

Finland,  Grand  Duchy  of,  186. 
Finland,  Gulf  of,  97,  172,  186. 
First  Mass.   Batter>',  Light  Artil- 
lery, 158. 
First  Mass.  Cavalri'.  16,  156-1.58. 
Fish,  Hamilton,  22. __ 
Fleetwing,  yacht,  27. 
Fogg    Museum,    Harvard   College, 

71. 
Folies  Dramatiques,  Paris,  10. 
Fontainebleau,  162. 
Forbes,  Paul,  161,  183. 
Ford's   Theatre,   Washington,    D. 

C,  61,  66. 
Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  42. 
Four-in-Hand  Club,  28. 
Fourteenth    Amendment,    56,    57, 

59. 
Fox,  Gustavus  Vasa,  36,  135,  136, 

185,  224. 
Fox's  Mission,  135,  136. 
Fremont,  John  C,  47.  48,  50. 
Friederichshamm,  Peace  of,  186. 
Frog  Pond,  Boston  Common,  85. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  repeal  of,  55. 
Gagarine,  Julie,  Princess,  121. 
Galitzine,    Prince,  150. 
Garcia,  John,  36. 
Gare  de  1'  Quest,  Paris,  15. 
Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  44. 
Gautier,  Thdophile,  40. 
General  Kotzebue,  steamship,  179, 

182. 
German  Club,  Moscow,  115. 
Gettvsburg,  Penn.,  64. 
GiUig.  Henrv  F.,  26. 
Goddard,  Ely,  33. 
Golden  Horn.  181. 
GortschakoflF,    Alexander    Mic- 

hailowitsch.    Prince,    95,    96. 

150.211. 


Gostinny  Dvor.  Moscow,  108. 
Gott,  Daniel,  45. 
Goubareff,  Demetrius.  222.  223. 
Grand  Duchess  Helena.  200. 
Grand  Duke  Alexis.  225. 
Grand  Duke  Constantine.  194.  200. 
Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  174. 
Grand  Hotel,  Paris,  15,  16,  24.  35, 

166. 
Grand  Opera.  Moscow,  115. 
Grand  Opera.  Paris,  24. 
Grand  Opera.  St.  Petersburg,  84, 

88,  141,  143,  149. 
Grand  Prix,  Paris,  161. 
Grand  Theatre,  Moscow,  105. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  65,  66,  173. 
Gray  Collection  of  Engravings,  70, 

71. 
Gray,  Francis  Colley,  70. 
Gray,  George  Griswold.  28,  33. 
Great  Eastern,  steamship,  18. 
Greek  Church.  181,  182,  188. 
Green,  J.  Ome,  72. 
Gregg,  John  I.,  156,  157. 
Hamburg,  168. 
Harvard  College,  22,  70,  89. 
Havana,  Cuba,  26. 
Hayti.  44,  51. 
Healy,  G.  P.  A,,  203. 
Henrietta,  yacht,  27.  28. 
Hereditary  Medals,  205. 
Hermitage,  84,  151. 
Higginson,  Frank  L.,  17. 
Holland,  J.  G.,  44. 
Holy  Synod,  188,  205,  206. 
Hooker,  Joseph,  62. 
Hotel  de  la  Paix,  9. 
Hotel  Dusaux,  Moscow,  103. 
Hudson  River,  28. 
Hunnewell,  HoUis,  17. 
Hunt,  William  Morris,  40-42. 
Hunter,  David  A.,  50. 
Hurlburt.  William  Henry,  145. 
Hyde  Park.  London,  111. 
Imperial  Library',  St.  Petersburg, 

151. 
Invitation,  Note  of,  94. 
Isla,  141. 
Ismail  Pasha,  Khedive  of  Egypt. 

216. 
Ismailia.  179. 
Ivan  III.,  185. 
Jackson,  Charles  C.,_  17,  25. 
Jagellon,  Duke  of  Lithuania,  154. 
Jamaica    Pond.    Roxbury,   Mass.. 

135. 
Jay,  William,  28. 
Jeannette,  steamship,  159. 
Jerome,  Lawrence.  20. 
Jerome,  Leonard  W.,  27. 


230 


INDEX 


Jockeys'  Ball,  32. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  117,  136. 

Johnson,  "Ned' ',  27. 

Jonesville,  East  Tennessee,  44. 

Khedive,  180,  182,  216,  219. 

Kimball,  Moses,  66. 

King  of  Prussia,  William  I.,  161, 

164. 
Knapp,  A.  W.,  29. 
Konigsberg,  24,  70,  73. 
Kosciusko,  Thaddeus,  153,  154. 
Kremlin,  Moscow,   103,  105,  107, 

108:  114,  116,  121,  187. 
Kremlin,  Novgorod,  140. 
Kronborg  Castle,  170. 
Kropotkin,  Prince,  204. 
Kung,  Prince,  166. 
Lafayette,  Gilbert  Motier  de,  37, 

44. 
Lamson,  Daniel  S.,  89,  90. 
Lane,  David,  89. 
Lee,  jfohn  C,  168. 
Lee,  Robert  E.,  21,  52,  62. 
Le  Ray,  Maurice,  16. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  41-67,  166,  204, 

224. 
Lincoln.  Abraham,  Death  of,  61- 

63. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  Statues  of,  64, 

66. 
Lithuanian  Provinces,  74,  194. 
Lockwood,  Alfred,  36. 
London,  Eng.,  17,  23,  39,  120,  207, 

222. 
Long  Branch,  New  Jersey,  221. 
Longchamps,  25,  161. 
Longfellow,  Charles  A.,  16-19,  23- 

25,  26,  38,  39,  69,  70,  72;  82, 

84,  94,  97,  98,  105,  114,  118, 

119,   123,    138-140,   142,   148. 

151    153-159 
Longfellow,  Ernest,  23,  122. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  16,  38,  70, 

88,  125. 
Lorillard,  George,  36. 
Lorillard,  Louis,  36. 
Loubat,  J.  P.,  Due  de,  35,  36,  136. 
Louvre,  Paris,  23. 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  43. 
Lyrique,  Paris,  23. 
Manchuria,  186. 

Manhattan  Club.  New  Y9rk,  145. 
Manifesto  of  Emancipation,  Rus- 
sia, 198. 
Marble,  Manton,  145. 
Martin,  Augustus  P.,  157. 
Maximilian,     Ferdinand     Joseph, 

Emperor  of  Mexico,  163. 
Mazourka,  115,  121,  154, 
McClellan,  George  B.,  52. 


McVickar.  William  H.,  28. 
Meade,  George  G.,  156. 
Mediterranean  Sea,  179. 
Merrill,  T.  Watson   159. 
Mesnil,  Baron  de,  31. 
Metropolitan,  Moscow.  181. 
Metropolitan,  St.  Petersburg,  137. 
Miantonomoh,  monitor,  136. 
Mickiewicz,  Adam,  155. 
Mill  Dam  Road,  Boston,  83. 
Mine  Run,  156.  157. 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Rus- 
sia, 96.   188. 
Ministry    of    Public    Instruction, 

Russia,  186,  188. 
Mississippi  River,  47. 
Morley,  Henry,  19. 
Moscow,  24,  38,  39,  76,  81,  86,  98- 

103,   105,    114,   116-118,   121, 

1.34,  139,   176,  177,  181,  185. 

187.  189,  194,  205. 
Moscow,  gas-lighting  of,  152. 
Mount  Cenis  Tunnel,  179. 
Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio,  44. 
Muscovy,  187. 

Nahant,   Mass.,   18,   153,  159. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  73,  102,  176. 
Napoleon   III.,   25,   161-164,   180. 

216,  217. 
Narragansett    Avenue,    Newport, 

R.  I..  32. 
National     Museum,    Washington, 

D.  C,  67. 
Navy  and  Army  Club,  Cronstadt. 

97. 
Neva  Qub,  134. 
Neva  River,  39,  84,  85,  108,  137. 

151.  153,  184,  185. 
Neva  Skating  Club,  84,  85,  93. 
Nevski   Prospect,   St.    Petersburg, 

83,  87,  111,  134,  205, 
Newfoundland,  18. 
New  or  Mount  Hope  Church,  Va., 

16,  156-158. 
New  London,  Conn.,  29. 
New  Orleans,  La.,  21. 
Newport,  N.  H.,  29. 
Newport,   R.   I.,   16,    28-33,    147, 

150,  221. 
Newport,  R.  I..  Beach,  30-33,  121. 
Newport,  R.  I.,  Jockey  Club,  31. 
New  York  City,  9,  10,  14,  21,  28. 

29,  36,  60,  63,  77,  89,  90.  120. 

135,  136,  166,  221.224,225. 
New  York  Club,  90,  91. 
New  York  Yacht  Club,  27,  28. 
Nice,  207,  222. 

Nicholas  I,,  95.  192.  193.  194. 
Nicholas  II.,  202,  203,  205,  206. 
Nisbet,  W.  F.,  153. 


INDEX 


231 


Nobility  Club,  115. 

Non-intervention  of  the  United 
States,  218-220. 

Norton,  Charles  B.,  183. 

Nottaway  Court  House,  Va.,  62. 

Novgorod,  i;35,  140,  141,  185. 

Nuba  Pasha,  182. 

Odessa,  24.  98,  177-179.  187,  208. 

Oglesby.  R.  J..  65. 

Oldroyd  Lincoln  Memorial  Collec- 
tion, 67. 

Opera  House    Berlin,  72. 

Oriental  Quadrille,   144,  146.  147. 

Oscar,  King  of  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way, 170. 

Otis,  James,  147. 

Otis,  Wmiam  C.  28. 

Ourousoff,  Prince,  31.  121.  150. 

Ourousoff.  Princess,  150. 

Palais   Royal.   Paris,    10. 

Panama  Canal,  29,  37.  164.  178, 
183 

Paris.  9-11.  14-17.  20,  22,  24,  25. 
27,  34-40,  68,  69,  73,83, 85,  86, 
88,  103,  115.  117.  126.  153. 
1.55.  101-169,  176,  179,  183. 
203.  207.  222.  223. 

Paris  Exposition  of  1867.  39.  41, 
151,  160,  164. 

Passage,  St.  Petersburg,  85. 

Passage  des  Panoramas,  Paris,  85. 

Patriarch  Adrian,  188. 

Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  181, 
182, 

Patriarchal  Cathedral,  114. 

Patti,  Adelina,  26,  27. 

Paul,  Emperor,  191. 

Peabody,  George,  152,  153. 

Peabodv,  S.  Endicott,  168. 

Perkins.  C.  C,  26. 

Peter  the  Great.  85.  98.  187,  188, 
190. 

Peter  III.,  193. 

Philippe's,  Paris,  39. 

Phcsnix,   Lloyd.  36. 

Picpus  Cemetery,  Paris,  37. 

Pierce,  Josiah,  jr.,  8S. 

Pl.-ice  de  la  Concorde.  Paris,  161. 

Place  de  I'Opera,  Paris,  35. 

Place  du  Nouvel  Opera,  Paris,  9. 

Plevna,  204. 

Poland,  75,  80,  153-155,  186,  195. 

Polar  Sea,  186. 

Pompeiian  Villa,  24. 

Pomutz,  George,  176, 

Port  Said,  179.  182,  226. 

Post,  Albert  Kintzing,  21. 

Postal  Union.  219. 

Post,  Waldron  Kintzing,  22. 

Pra.ijue,  Peace  of,  210. 


Pratt,  Thomas,  36. 
Pri;  Catalan,  165. 
Presentation,  92,  173. 
Proclamation     of     Emancipation, 

52-54. 
Raasloff,  Waldemar  Rudolph,  168, 

171. 
Rappahannock   River,   Va.,   63. 
Rescript  of  Nazimof,  195. 
Review  of  Troops  in  France,  161, 

162. 
Review  of  Troops  in  Russia.  121, 

173-176. 
Review  of  Troops  in  Sweden,  170. 
Rhodes,  179. 
Rice,  Alexander  H..  177. 
Rice.  A.  Thomdike,  146. 
Riggs.  Elisha,  36. 
Ristori.  Adelaide,  25,  26. 
River  Rhine,  218. 
Riverside     Park,     Cambridgepwrt, 

Mass.,  115. 
Roberts,  Benjamin  Stone,  97. 
Rome,   39,   87.  93,    130.  211. 
Rosalie,   123,   125-129,   131. 
Rue  Auber,  Paris,  36. 
Rue  Castiglione,  Paris,  176. 
Rue  de  \k  Paix,  Paris,  9,  17,  24,  35. 
Rue  Rovale,   Paris,    176. 
Rue  St.  Honors,  Paris,  176. 
Rurik,  yacht,  136,  original  settler, 

185. 
Russell,  Harry,  32. 
Russia  and  the  United  States,  186. 

223-225. 
Russian  Beggar,  75,  201. 
Russian  Horse,  77,  78,  81,  97,  98. 

105,    106,   108-113.  115.  120. 

121,  150. 
Russian  Navigation  Company, 179. 
Russian  Sleigh,  77.  78.  81.  83.  87, 

94,   105,   120,  149. 
Russian  Yacht  Club,  84. 
Saint  Cloud,  164. 
Saint  Gaudens,  Augtistus,  66. 
Saint  Germain,  223. 
Saint  Louis,  Mo.,  47. 
Saint  Michel  Theatre,  St.  Peters- 
burg, 88. 
Saint  Petersburg,   17,   19,  24,  38. 

39,  72.  74,  78,  81,  82,  91,  92, 

96,  98,  102,  103,  108,  110-118, 

121.   122.    132-134.   136,    1.38. 

139.  143,  145,  152-154,    167- 

169,  172,   173,   176,  177,  181. 

187,  197,  203,  215,  216. 
Saint     Petersburg     and     Moscow 

Railroad,  99,  101,  177. 
Saint     Petersburgh  and    Warsaw 

RaUroad,  80,  177. 


232 


INDEX 


Saint  Thomas,  island,  171. 

Samanos,  Augustus,  36. 

San   Francisco,    10,   91,    124,    167, 

181,  224. 
Sargent,  Harry,  17. 
Sayles,  Henry,  132. 
Scilly  Islands,  9. 
Secession  of  Southern  States,  46. 
Serfs,  189-191. 

Serfs,  Emancipation  of,  192-203. 
Seward,  William  H.,  51,  54,  55,  64. 
Shattuck,  George  B.,  70,  124,  143. 
Sherman,  William  T.,  65. 
Siberia,  191,  193. 
Simpson,  Matthew,  62. 
Sixteenth  Mass.  Infantry,  90. 
Smith,  Charles  K.,  86,  89-91. 
Snead,  Thoinas  L.,  48. 
Soldiers'    Home,   Washington,    D. 

C.,43. 
Somerset  Club,  Boston,  22. 
Southwell,  Viscount,  32,  33. 
Souworoff,  or  Suwarrow,    Alexan- 
der Vasilievitch,  Count  Rym- 

nikski,  143. 
Spanish   Ambassador,  St.   Peters- 
burg. 93.  98,  99. 
Spencer,  Lorillard,  35. 
Springfield,  111.,  62. 
Staigg  Portrait,  117,  122,  124.  132, 

133 
Stai.gg,  Richard  M..  123.  124.  152. 
Stanfield,  Harry,  17-19,  23,  24,  29. 
Stevenson,  Robert  H.,  25,  27. 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  167,  169.  170, 

180. 
Straits  of  Dover,  220. 
Strogonoff,  Count,  177. 
Suez  Canal.  35.  164,  168,  169,  178- 

180,  208,  215-217,  226. 
SuUy,  Thomas,  126-128. 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  Abdul-Aziz,  162, 

163,216,219. 
Svkes,  George,  156. 
Ssmod,  Holy,  188.  205.  206. 
System  of  Government  in  Russia. 

187-189. 
Talleyrand  -  Perigord.    Charles 

Maurice,  Prince  of  Benevento, 

13. 
Tchudova,  140. 
Thies,  Louis,  70. 
Thirteenth  U.  S.  Infantry,  21. 
Thirty-first  U.  S.  Infantry,  20,  21. 
Tilsit,  Peace  of,  73. 
Tivoli,  152. 


Trumbull,  Lyman.  46. 
Tsarskoii  Selo.  150. 
Union  Club,  San  Francisco.  91. 
Union   Pacific   Railroad.   167. 
United  States  Treasury,  62,   117, 

178. 
Upsala,  170. 
Ural  Mountains,  108. 
Venice,  102. 
Versailles,  23,  36,  98. 
Vesta,  yacht,  27. 
Vevey,  Switzerland,  222. 
Vice  Roi  of  Egypt,  182,  216. 
Victoria  Theatre,  Berlin,  70. 
Vienna,  25,  39,  102,  153,  155. 
Ville   de  Paris,  steamship,  9,  14. 
Virginia,  156. 
Voisin  Armand,  36. 
Volga  River,  108. 
Wainwright,  Charles  S.,  62. 
War  Department,  Washington,  D. 

C,  67. 
Warsaw,  24,  148,  153. 
War  with  Spain,  172,  219. 
Washburn,  Elihu  B.,  165,  168. 
Washington    Club,    Paris,   22,   29, 

34-38. 
Washington,  D.  C,  11,  16,  43,  61. 

127,  165,  166,  181,  183,  213, 

219. 
Washington  Heights,  27,  28. 
Waterloo,  26,  39,  68. 
Way  man.  Bishop,  65. 
Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  43. 
Whistler,  George  W.,  98,  99. 
Whistler,  James  A.  McN.,  98. 
White  Sea,  185. 
Willett,  "Bronnie,"  34. 
Wilna,  24,  70,  73,  74,  79. 
Wilson,  Henry,  65. 
Winans,  Ross,  88,  98,  99,  177. 
Winans,  Thomas  de  Kay,  99. 
Winans,  William  Louis,  99. 
Winter  Palace,  St.  Petersbiirg,  95, 

121,  134,  137,  149,  173,205. 
Winthrop,  Eugene,  35. 
Winthrop,  Robert,  221. 
Wood,  Fernando,   168. 
Wordsworth,  WiUiam,  131,  132. 
Woronzoff,  Prince,  178. 
Wright,  Frances,  44. 
Wright,  Joseph  A..  72. 
Wright,  Smith,  129.  130. 
Yacht  Club  Pond.  84. 
Yacht  Club  Skating  Groxind,  141. 
Young,  Samuel  P.,  105. 


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